


so sweet like chocolate

by luckyday



Series: some people say love [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Friends to Lovers, I Put My Favorite Fluff Tropes In A Blender And This Was What Happened, It's All Very Cheesy And Dramatic, M/M, Minor Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin, Mutual Pining, OT9 Are All Mentioned But Those Five Are The Important Ones, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, They're Both Very Gay And Very Stupid, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-11-13 19:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 71,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18037493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyday/pseuds/luckyday
Summary: Jisung's never exactly been the studious type. Sure, he's smart in his own way, but that doesn't necessarily transfer over to the kind of intelligence that the education system relies on. Tired of struggling after his first semester, he takes his friend up on the advice of actually using the school library to work.Enter Lee Minho, with his soft hair and pretty voice and his eyes that hold the galaxies in them. If he was only pretty, Jisung might've gotten away with just a fleeting crush. Unfortunately for him, Minho is funny and kind and quickly figures out that the fastest way to Jisung's heart is through his stomach-- and by being an attentive friend.So in short, Jisung's screwed.-Or, the one where Jisung's a little in love with a cute librarian and maybe, just maybe, the cute librarian is a little in love with him too.





	1. i like you more and more (you're sweet the more i know you)

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to be 5k words max i don't know what happened. please don't ask. anyways this is certainly not my first foray into fic or writing itself but it is my first fic for stray kids so! what a way to enter the stay writing community huh.
> 
> title and chapter titles come from [**"chocolate"** by day6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fuxxs91F8Y) and honestly if you want the general vibe of this fic, that's it. i listened to it enough on repeat that i'm pretty sure i'll hear that song whenever i think about this fic at all.
> 
> happy 4419 day and congrats to skz for their first music show win. what a way to celebrate, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At first sight.

Jisung isn't stupid. 

Well, at least he doesn't think so. In fact, he thinks he can be rather quick-witted when he wants to be. He adapts easily and is usually able to figure things out himself if given enough time. It's why he excels at anything hands on that he can physically work out and why he's good at anything creative that he can push the boundaries of what's expected of him. It's how he's gotten by this far in life. 

So, here's the problem. 

College is a whole lot of cramming as much information as he can into his head at once and regurgitating it to meet a very strict standard of what is right and what is wrong. 

And that's something he definitely does not excel at. 

After floundering for the first couple of months, scraping by the first semester but just barely, it was only natural that one of his friends with a better head for this kind of thing stepped in and tried to help him out. 

The friend in question, angel that he is, is Kim Woojin. Two years Jisung's senior and someone he met through Chan-- his former babysitter turned friend once the two were older-- the older boy has always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders to Jisung. Very calm and collected, but definitely not boring either. Woojin's funny in his own quiet often deadpan way. He's just an all around good guy and Jisung's lucky to have him watching out for him. 

So that's how he ends up in the library with Woojin on a Thursday in the late afternoon two weeks into the start of the second semester, the book he's been trying to absorb for class open on the table in front of him, Woojin seated across from him paging through his own novel. 

"So what now?" Jisung asks after what feels like an eternity of silence, when in reality they couldn't have been here for longer than fifteen minutes. 

Woojin looks up at him with what Jisung recognizes clearly as exasperation. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, I'm sitting here reading my book and I'm taking notes-- well, kind of, I'm writing things that seem like they'd be important down-- but what do I, like… do?" Jisung presses. 

"You… you study, Jisung," Woojin says. "That's why you're here. To study." 

"I don't know, I guess I just never learned _how_ to study." 

"You never learned how to study," Woojin repeats slowly, staring the younger boy down. Jisung feels pinpricks on the back of his neck and shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. 

"Yeah. I mean, I guess my brain just didn't work like that? I'd try to study but everything would shut down and I couldn't focus and I'd end up staring at the same page for an hour before I realized I was blanking out." He laughs nervously, reaching up to touch the back of his neck. "Or when I tried cramming before a test, I'd have it all down in the moment but when it came time to actually do the test everything I memorized would suddenly be gone. So I just learned how to wing it, I guess." 

Woojin looks him over for a long time. Silently. It's enough to make Jisung feel like he's being dissected. Finally, he says, "How in the world did you make it this far?" 

Jisung gives the older boy a little grin, although it's less because he's happy and more because it's a reflex he has to smile when he's embarrassed. "Pure determination, some luck, and a lot of extra credit. Oh, and some copying of homework, but that's just between you and me. Don't tell my teachers that." 

Woojin snorts at that. "Yeah, hold on. Let me just ring up your old algebra teacher from high school and tell them Han Jisung who graduated needs to take another year to make up for his blatant cheating." 

Jisung makes a disgusted noise. "Ack. Don't even joke about that. College kinda sucks and is stressful as hell but I'd rather die here than go back to high school." 

"Please don't die," Woojin says, "Chan would be very upset if I let you die in the library before you graduated." 

Jisung squints at him. "Wouldn't you be upset too? Wait-- hold on, does that mean Chan wouldn't be upset if I died here _after_ I graduate?" 

Woojin gives a noncommittal shrug to both questions, a small smile on his face as he looks back down to his book. 

"That doesn't answer my question," Jisung complains, which just makes the smile on Woojin's face grow bigger, much to Jisung's annoyance. 

His focus on Woojin fades, however, as movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention. He turns his head to look, gaze landing on a figure pulling a cart of books, presumably a librarian. His back is to Jisung but he appear nicely dressed, a cream jacket over a neatly tucked striped shirt. Jisung leans his chin against his hand, watching him curiously. He likes people watching. 

The librarian stretches, turning as he does so, and Jisung's breath catches as he finds himself staring at maybe the most beautiful human being he's ever seen. He's got dark brown hair-- the color of a good cup of hot chocolate-- that parts in waves in the middle of his forehead. When he tilts his head to look down at the books in his cart, Jisung can see the elegant slope of his nose and the almost sculpture-like cheeks and jaw. He looks like a prince. A prince working at a college library putting away books. 

Now, maybe Jisung's been known to be a bit of a hopeless romantic in his time. Maybe Chan's teased him about that since he was a middle schooler. Maybe he's been known to be struck dead in his tracks by particularly pretty people. 

Maybe Han Jisung's fallen just a little bit in love with this pretty librarian at first sight. 

"You're staring," Woojin says in a low voice, breaking Jisung's focus on the boy across the room. He turns with wide eyes to look at the older boy, finding him still reading his own book, not even bothering to look up at Jisung. There's a smirk on his face though. 

"I'm-- I don't know what you're talking about," he manages. 

Woojin glances up, not even at him but instead looking directly at the librarian. "Well, I kind of doubt you're too interested in the autobiography section." 

Jisung bristles, voice raising instinctively. "I could be! You don't know!" 

Someone from a nearby table hushes them, casting an annoyed look at him. Jisung immediately subdues, giving a little apologetic wave at them before turning back to Woojin. 

"I'm not saying you're stupid or anything," Woojin clarifies, finally meeting Jisung's eyes again. "I'm just saying autobiographies don't seem like they're in your wheelhouse, or at least not enough for you to be staring at them with stars in your eyes." 

"There aren't any stars in my eyes," he mumbles, feeling heat creep up the back of his neck. 

"Whatever you say," Woojin says with a sigh. "I can't believe I brought you here with me because I thought you would have an easier time doing your work. Instead you've been here twenty minutes and you're already just ogling the librarians." 

"I'm not ogling anybody!" Jisung hisses under his breath, careful to keep his voice low enough that he won't be hushed. "I just-- he's pretty, okay?" 

"You _would_ find him pretty." Woojin shakes his head. Then he sighs yet again. Woojin does that a lot around him. "Okay. Well, I wasn't planning to stay here long anyways, I just wanted to make sure you actually tried out coming here at least once. I have a thing with Chan." 

With that, Woojin closes his book and slides it under his arm, picking his backpack up and hoisting it over his shoulder. When Jisung just blinks up at him in surprise, the older boy reaches over and ruffles Jisung's blonde hair, earning a startled squeak. 

"Don't be too much of a bother, okay? And… god, just try actually working and not just staring at the librarian, okay?" Woojin sounds exasperated, but there is an underlying fondness there. 

"I won't, I won't," Jisung assures, pulling away from Woojin's hand and reaching up to fix his hair. He likes it a certain way, a little messy and ruffled but every bit falling in it's specific place. Woojin snorts. 

"Whatever," Woojin says, and with that he gives Jisung a small wave before heading off. 

And Jisung tries to study. He really does. 

He really, _really_ does. 

The problem is, his brain just doesn't want to do it. It's having trouble sorting through this wall of text, of figuring out what parts of it are important enough to write down. Part of him thinks maybe he should just write down everything, but at that point it's not really taking notes. He's not even quite sure how he's supposed to format these things, because none of the ways his teachers taught him how to take notes in school before this ever worked for him. 

So he does try, the problem is it doesn't work. 

Fifteen minutes after Woojin leaves and his brain is already fried, so Jisung can't really blame himself when his eyes start to wander the library again, eventually falling on the librarian he spotted earlier. He's closer now, still sorting through his cart of books. 

The librarian stretches, lifting up onto the tips of his toes to reach the top shelf and put the next book away. Jisung rests his chin on his hand, watching the way his hair falls into his eyes as he does so. The librarian comes to rest on the flat of his feet again, reaching up and sweeping his hair back off his forehead and-- 

And god. He's hot. He's pretty and he's hot. 

_This just isn't fair,_ Jisung thinks miserably. 

As the boy lowers his hand from his hair, he glances over in the direction of the tables Jisung's sitting at, his gaze catching Jisung's. He very quickly realizes that he's been caught staring and feels his cheeks suddenly heat up. 

And then the librarian smiles at him and it feels like the boy just aimed an arrow at him and shot him through the heart. 

Embarrassed, Jisung manages to smile back. He quickly drops his eyes down to the book in front of him, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and worrying it. After a moment, he hears the sound of books being put on shelves once more. He chances a look up and yes, the cute librarian has returned to putting books away. 

With a sigh he looks back down at his book, suddenly feeling a lot less brave. Maybe, just maybe, he should listen to Woojin and actually try to focus on trying to absorb this information instead of staring at a librarian, no matter how pretty that librarian happens to be. 

He actually manages to focus for a while, or at least a lot longer than he's usually been able to when he tried to work in his room. Maybe there's merritt to Woojin's idea of bringing him here after all. That said, Jisung is still Jisung, and eventually his brain gets so wired that he starts to get antsy. It starts in his feet, and he taps them against each other and then the floor. Then it moves up through his legs, and he starts to bounce one before he catches himself and crosses it over the other, twisting his foot so it curls around the back of his leg and holds both in place. But without moving his feet or legs, he can't focus. So he picks up the pencil he has out on the table for notes and starts waving it between his pointer finger and middle finger, slowly at first. But then he starts to focus again now that he's moving, and he starts shaking it faster. 

And he loses his grip on the pencil, sending it flying across the library until it clatters to the floor near the cute librarian's cart, impossibly loud in the quiet building. 

Jisung wants to die. 

The librarian blinks at the sound, pausing in the middle of putting a book on the shelf to look around for what just made that noise. Slowly, he reaches down and picks up the pencil, staring at in confusion. Then he looks up, glancing around the room until his eyes fall on an absolutely mortified Jisung. 

Oh. Jisung _really_ wants to die. 

Panicking, Jisung looks back down at his book as if that's going to help him at all, hunching over it and pushing a hand into his hair. He knows he was spotted and he knows the librarian probably realized it's his pencil that just went flying. It's utterly useless to pretend like he didn't just thoroughly embarrass himself, but that doesn't stop him from staring down at the words on the paper in front of him like they're gonna take him far, far away from here where nobody knows what he just did. 

_Please don't come over here. Please don't come over here. Please don't come over here._

"Is this yours?" 

_Fuck._

Slowly, Jisung looks up from where he was staring and, of course, the cute librarian is standing right in front of his table holding his stupid pink pencil. 

And if Jisung thought he was pretty from afar, the librarian is downright beautiful up close. His eyes are dark, sparkling more than any human's eyes have a right to sparkle and framed by long, thick eyelashes. His cupid's bow is… well, Jisung doesn't want to think too much about anything going on in this man's mouth-region because, frankly, he's worried he'll explode. 

A shame then, that the librarian wears a funny little smile that Jisung can't help but find charming. 

Slowly straightening up in his chair, Jisung clears his throat. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's… that's mine." 

"I thought so," the boy says, and his voice is pleasant and almost airy, rumbling with a hint of barely held back laughter. Gentle. Soft. Completely and utterly attractive, just like every other part of him. 

This is hell, Jisung decides. _I'm in hell._

After a moment of Jisung just starting at him, the little smile on the boy's lips widens a little as his eyes seem to twinkle even harder. "Well, do you want it back?" 

"Oh! Um, yes," Jisung says quickly. The librarian snorts, holding the pencil out to him. Jisung quickly takes it, immediately putting it down flat on the table where it won't be part of anymore airplane-worthy take-offs. 

He expects the librarian to leave then, or he hopes he does at least so Jisung can try his best to forget about what he just did, but much to his chagrin, the boy is still just standing in front of his table smiling at him. 

"Have you been in here before?" the librarian asks, like nothing's wrong at all. 

Oh. So he's prolonging this. Wonderful. More opportunities for him to make a fool of himself. 

"No," Jisung admits. His hands find each other in his lap, clasping tightly as he fits his fingers between each other. He has to do something with his hands. He can't just have them sitting out, not when he's nervous. He won't be able to think, not like he's having much luck with that anyways with the cute librarian trying to hold a conversation with him for some reason. 

The smile the other boy wears widens again, and this time the corners of his eyes crinkle a bit. "I didn't think so. I know most people who come in here during my shifts, even if it's just their face. I thought you looked new when you came in. I recognized your friend, but he doesn't usually come in when I'm here unless it looks like he's cramming." 

"You know Woojin?" Jisung asks in surprise before he can stop himself, curiosity suddenly outweighing his anxiety. 

"Oh, no," he says, shaking his head a little. "I don't know him, I didn't even know his name's Woojin. I just know his face and that whenever he does come in during my shifts, he usually sits in here for a while working." 

"Ah." That makes sense. Woojin's a hard worker. That's why Jisung let him wrangle him into trying out the library in the first place. Slowly, he asks, "You said you know everybody here?" 

The boys shrugs but that doesn't stop him from suddenly looking a little smug. "It's not a big deal. I work here enough that I start to notice the regulars. I don't always notice people who come in here once or twice a month or anything, not usually at least, but I do know the regulars." 

"That's kind of cool," Jisung says, and that makes the boy blink in surprise-- almost like he didn't think anybody else would think his small accomplishment of recognizing faces was cool. "I barely remember the other students in my classes. I swear there's a new one there every time I go." 

The boy laughs at that and it's not exactly musical but it's something light and charming that makes Jisung's breath catch a bit. "Well, I think I'm just good with people. Don't worry too much about it." 

Jisung likes the way he looks when he laughs. His whole face lights up, his smile pretty and warm as his eyes crinkle into half-moons. 

"Lee Minho," the librarian says after a moment, holding out a hand. He stares at it for a moment, brain suddenly going blank, before he realizes the other boy is asking for a handshake. He quickly takes it, hoping he's not too rough or too-- oh god. Oh god what if his hands are sweaty or damp or gross or-- "It's really nice to meet you. If you ever need any help here just let me know, okay?" 

"Okay!" Jisung barks out instantly, wincing at his own voice and how eager he sounds. 

The librarian-- Minho, Jisung reminds himself-- pays it no mind, however, or at least doesn't show it, not beyond a small, amused smile. "Try not to throw any more pencils around, alright? You got pretty close to hitting me. The last thing I need is to get impaled by one during work." 

"I think the last thing you need is to get impaled by a pencil anywhere," Jisung says before he can stop himself, his natural need to get quips in overpowering his nervousness around this incredibly pretty man. He immediately purses his lips, like that'll take back the words that have already come out. He's really out here sounding like a dumbass first thing's first. 

But Minho doesn't look annoyed or even roll his eyes at Jisung's comment. In fact, the other boy's eyes glimmer with amusement as the small smile on his face spreads and a little laugh escapes. "You might have a point there…" 

When he trails off, looking at Jisung curiously, he has the sudden realization that he still hasn't told Minho his name. 

"Han Jisung," he says quickly. 

"Han Jisung," Minho repeats slowly, like he's weighing every syllable of the name in his mouth. "Well, Jisung, I can tell that you and I are going to get along very well if you keep coming around. As long as you don't accidentally stab me with another one of your pencils, that is." 

And Han Jisung could just about die happy right there, the only thing keeping him alive the fact that Minho seems to be implying he'd say hi if he sees Jisung in the library from now on. 

Maybe he _is_ a lovestruck idiot, because that is bare basic friendliness but it makes his head spin. 

"I'll try my best." 

"Please do," Minho says with a laugh. "Now, I've got a cart of unsorted books waiting for me to get back to them, so I think I'll leave you be now." 

"Okay!" Jisung blurts. He worries for a moment that he seemed too over-eager at the concept of him leaving, like he _wanted_ the other boy gone, but Minho doesn't seem to mind. 

"Good luck with your studying and your flying pencils," Minho tells him, grinning as he gives him a tiny wave before turning his back on Jisung and making his way back over to his cart. 

Jisung stares at the flying pencil in question, weighing the pros and cons of him making a total fool of himself in front of the cute librarian but with the reward of him coming over and talking to him. Being _friendly_ to him. 

_Minho,_ Jisung repeats in his head. 

_Minho._

 

\---

 

"I haven't really been to the library here much," Felix admits as he rifles through his bag. 

They're sitting in their dorm, Felix on one bed and Jisung on the other. Felix just got back from class a few minutes before Jisung returned from the library, the two of them sitting down to recount their days the way they often do. 

"It's pretty nice. I could spend all day in there," Jisung says absently. 

Felix raises an eyebrow at that. "You?" 

He snaps to attention at that, puffing up defensively. "What do you mean by that?" 

His roommate laughs. "I don't know! Don't get me wrong, Jisung. You're smart, I just didn't think you're the kind of person to hang around at a library all day. Sorry." 

Jisung pouts at him. "You don't know! I could just really like books! Also, it's just really nice in there, okay? It's kind of, like, relaxing. When I'm not worrying about accidentally making too much sound at least." 

Felix snorts. "Yeah, I can see how you'd be worried about that. You're pretty loud." 

"Hey!" Jisung yells, only to clamp his mouth shut after Felix grins pointedly at him. Well, that's… fair. 

"But really, are you just going to the library because you like the atmosphere or what?" 

Jisung flops back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Specifically at the one beige stain on the ceiling that Felix says looks kind of like a pineapple. "I mean, it's nice there yeah. There's also this… guy." 

"Oh my god, I knew you weren't just going to study." 

"Shut up!" He feels his cheeks start to heat up as Felix just laughs at him. "Anyways, he's just… he's one of the librarians." 

"And you think he's hot," Felix says. 

"And I think he's hot," Jisung admits. 

"Your weakness," Felix declares. "Hot people." 

"I think that's everybody's weakness," he grumbles. 

"Maybe," Felix admits, "but I think it's more true for some than others." 

"And I'm the some that it's more true for," Jisung says with a sigh. He meant to make the words sound accusing, like he didn't accept what Felix was saying, but in reality he knows it's true. 

"Now you're getting it," Felix says with a laugh. "For real though, did you talk to him or what?" 

"Uh," Jisung says, replaying his experience in the library in his head. "Yeah. I mean… okay." He pushes himself up onto his elbows so he can look at his roommate. "So you know that thing I do? With pens and pencils when I'm thinking?" 

"When you shake it really hard and it gets all blurry because you're moving it so fast?" Felix recalls, and Jisung nods. 

"Yeah, I was doing that while I was trying to work-- because I _was_ trying to work!" Jisung makes sure to add with a huff, and Felix innocently raises both hands up. "Anyways, I was doing that to help me think and the pencil just kind of flew out of my hand and almost hit the cute librarian." 

"Oh my god," Felix says, looking at him with concern suddenly. "Almost? You didn't actually, right?" 

"No, no!" Jisung hurriedly reassures. "No, thank god. It just kind of fell near him where he was putting away books, but it went flying really far. And he picked it up and saw me staring in _complete horror_ and realized it was mine and came over to give it back." 

"And he talked to you?" Felix asks. 

"Yeah. Not anything special or anything I guess, but he didn't seem mad or annoyed or anything," Jisung explains. "He just kind of talked to me a bit about how he recognizes all the regulars at the library and told me I should try not to impale him with a pencil again, which…" 

"Good suggestion," Felix finishes. 

Jisung reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah." 

"Did you get his name?" Felix asks, putting his backpack down on the floor by his bed before he leans back against the wall, hands clasped in his lap as he listens to Jisung talk. 

"Minho," Jisung says slowly, like he's testing the name in his mouth. He hasn't said it out loud yet. Sure, he's said the name before, of course he has. But this Minho is different. 

"Are you gonna go back?" Felix's voice has a bit of eagerness, like he's more excited at the prospect of Jisung seeing the cute librarian than Jisung is. 

"Well, I was going to anyways. I don't really wanna let Woojin down by only trying out the library once, so I'm gonna try it out at least a few more times and see if it gets easier for me to study there." 

"Oh, that's good," Felix says, like he forgot the real reason Jisung went to the library in the first place. He's sounds genuine though. "I really hope it does, man." 

"Me too," he admits, because this semester is going to suck if it doesn't. 

There's a knock on the door then, and Jisung's just about to get up and see who it is when Felix suddenly jumps to his feet with surprising speed, bolting to the door fast enough that it just leaves Jisung blinking in confusion. 

When Felix opens the door, a very sleepy Seungmin is standing on the other side looking like he just woke up. He's holding something white in his arms. 

"Did you just wake up?" Felix asks, suddenly sounding concerned, echoing Jisung's own thought. 

"From a nap," Seungmin says, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "I was tired after class." 

"Maybe you should've just slept," Felix suggests, getting a sleepy little laugh from Seungmin. 

"No, I would've woken up at like three in the morning. I haven't eaten yet anyways," he tells him. Slowly, he raises up the white fabric in his hands, which Jisung now recognizes as Felix's hoodie. "Here. I wanted to drop it off since you left it down the hall." 

"Oh!" Felix lights up when he sees it, taking it from the other boy and hugging it close to his chest. "Thanks! I totally forgot!" 

"I know," Seungmin says, and his voice is fond. 

Kim Seungmin lives down the hallway from them in the dorm at the very end with his roommate Hyunjin. Seungmin's a photography major and Hyunjin's a dance major like Felix. The four of them met the day they moved into the dorms at the start of the year when they had the unfortunate luck of all getting trapped in the elevator together while bringing their stuff up. 

Needless to say, being stuck in an elevator together really brings people together. 

They're all friends now, going out to eat together sometimes and watching movies when they're free. Jisung really likes both of them. 

That said, he'd have to be an idiot not to realize that Seungmin and Felix hit it off in a way the rest of them hadn't. The two sets of roommates are close, of course, but whatever Seungmin and Felix have it's nothing like Jisung and Felix's friendship. 

That much had been obvious since day one when Felix got cold in the elevator while waiting for help and Seungmin had wordlessly taken off his hoodie and given it to him. 

Funny how some people meet and it's like an instant connection, Jisung thinks. 

"Hey Seungmin," he says, flopping back on his bed again. 

"Hi Jisung," the other boy says, craning his neck to look past Felix into the room. "Did you ever go to the library today like you were talking about?" 

"He almost stabbed a cute librarian!" Felix says excitedly, which makes Seungmin spin to stare at him with a look of horror while Jisung shoots upright in bed. 

"Don't open with that!" Jisung yells at the same time Seungmin goes, "He _what?_ " 

Felix winces at their reactions and Jisung drops his head in his hands as he realizes that he's going to have to recount his story _again_ , this time stressing that he definitely did not intentionally try to stab anybody. 

"Hold on," Seungmin says, before Jisung can start to explain himself, "I'm going to get Hyunjin, we're all going to go get food, and we're _all_ going to listen to Jisung explain how he almost stabbed somebody." 

Jisung groans into his hands. 

At least he'll get food out of this. 

 

\---

 

Jisung doesn't originally plan to go back to the library the next day. It's a friday, after all, he kind of just wants to mess around on his laptop in bed and maybe pass out for a couple of hours and make up some sleep he lost during the week. You know. Real exciting college kid adventures. 

He doesn't plan to, but somehow he finds himself slowing down in front of the building anyways on his way back from class until he finally comes to a stop, staring at the door. He was just going to come back next week, honestly. Try to do this once a week. But he just keeps thinking about-- well. 

Well. 

(And it's not like he's only here to see if he can catch another glimpse of Minho, to talk to him again, to maybe make a better impression than he did yesterday. He does genuinely want to study and try to work, as hard as that is for him.) 

So that's how he ends up there yet again, the same book from yesterday opened on the table. He _will_ conquer this thing if it kills him. In the meantime if every few paragraphs he looks up and glances around the library for a certain cute librarian, who's there to judge him? 

Well. A lot of people actually. 

Which is kind of something he's been becoming increasingly aware of. Realistically he doubts that anybody's paying too much attention to him. After all, everybody's here to work on their own stuff and not everyone is as easily distracted as he is. Still, the longer he goes without turning the page of his book, the more self-conscious he is about it. He can _feel_ eyes on him-- although he doubts anybody's actually watching, it's just his anxiety acting up again, and yet-- 

Jisung is brutally aware of how dumb he must appear taking so long to even do the most basic thing while everybody else around him is working at a normal pace. 

He's genuinely in the middle of packing up his things and getting out of there as fast as possible when he spots a familiar figure emerge from between the bookshelves. Minho, carrying an armful of books. 

His hair is more ruffled than it was yesterday, almost like it's newly dried and he didn't get a chance to style it or anything. He wears a blue and red patterned sweater that Jisung thinks would be tacky on anybody else, but Minho makes it look good. 

The librarian in question sets the stack down on a table, turning them and gently tapping each spine as he goes over what he has. When he seems satisfied, he looks up. 

Jisung, to his credit, doesn't look away when Minho's eyes fall on him. Which he's immediately glad about because Minho's face breaks into a smile when he sees him. 

It feels a bit like Minho just shot him through the heart again, which Jisung is starting to get the impression will be a running theme if he keeps coming here. It's not a _bad_ thing. In fact, the way it makes him light-headed is the exact opposite of a bad thing. 

Jisung's unable to stop the silly smile from spreading across his face, and when Minho raises up a hand to wave at him he can't help but do the same. The other boy lights up when Jisung responds and he can practically feel the warmth radiating off of Minho from where he sits. 

After a moment Minho gently pats his tower of books, which Jisung assumes means he can't talk right now because he's doing something. He points down at his own book and notebook and Minho nods, giving him a thumbs up. 

And with that Minho picks up his books and carries them off. Jisung watches as he slides behind the desk where a girl his age is working and disappears into a back room. When Minho doesn't come back out Jisung looks back down at his notebook. 

Well. At least that was a good distraction right when he needed one. Minho's here, and not only is he here but he seemed happy to see Jisung. 

The thought makes his stomach do flips. 

He does actually manage to work for a while, which surprises him. It's not the best work he's ever done, but he actually starts turning pages in his book more than once every ten minutes. That's a low bar and he's knows it, but he's been having trouble getting over even that so he'll take the small victories where he can find them. 

The problem arises-- because of course there's a problem, there's always a problem when Jisung manages to start making progress on his work because that's just how life is-- when his stomach growls. And not quietly either. Loud. Loud enough that Jisung blushes because he's _sure_ other people in the library heard it. 

With a start, he remembers that he has a bag of chips that he bought from the vending machine outside of class on his way out the door. He was just gonna eat it when he got back to the dorm but he forgot about it completely when he decided to stop into the library on a whim. Lucky him, then. 

He's just pulled it out of his backpack when someone coughs pointedly. Confused, Jisung swivels his head around, making eye contact with an older woman sitting a few tables away on a laptop with a stack of books next to her. Judging by the ID pinned to her breast pocket, she's a librarian as well. 

"There's no food in the library," the older woman says, wrinkled brow creasing as she stares at him. Shriveling under her gaze, he slowly puts the bag away. 

He'll just have to eat after he goes back to the dorms then, but that doesn't alleviate his hunger now which is what really matters. Now he's going to have an even _harder_ time focusing on trying to study because all he'll be thinking about is how hungry he is. 

Resigning himself to his misery, Jisung sinks in his chair, knowing he's pouting like a child but not really caring when he's so hungry. He knows he should focus on his work, but it's just so hard. 

His pouting is interrupted by a familiar figure appearing in front of him, an amused smile on his face. Jisung sits up immediately, which only makes Minho's smile grow more. 

"You had a book you wanted to check out," Minho says, tapping at the table. Jisung just stares blankly at him. "It just came in. I can show you where I shelved it." 

"I didn't--" Jisung starts, but Minho taps the table again pointedly, cutting him off. 

"Do you wanna see it or not?" 

"I… sure?" 

"Then let me show you," Minho says again and gestures towards the shelves. 

Feeling more than a little lost, Jisung slowly gets to his feet. Pleased that it seems like Jisung's listening to him, Minho flashes him another easy smile before turning and walking towards the shelves. Jisung trails behind him, noting the way Minho keeps glancing back over his shoulder to make sure he's following him. 

He lets Minho lead him back through the maze of bookshelves, eventually the two of them popping out the other side to a quiet little area that seems tucked away from the main area. It's a little dimmer here; one of the lights above seems to have gone out and not been fixed and there's no windows. Nobody else is back here, which makes Jisung all the more confused. 

"Why did you ask me if I wanna see a book?" Jisung asks, turning to look at Minho with a frown. "I don't think I asked you about a book. I think I'd remember that from our incredibly brief conversation from yesterday." 

"Why did you follow me then?" Minho shoots back in a teasing tone, and Jisung flushes. 

"Don't make fun of me, I followed you because you seemed really insistent," he says. 

"I am insistent!" Minho agrees. "And I do have something to show you even if it isn't a book." 

Jisung barely registers Minho moving until he's taken his hand in his (and his fingers are unbelievably warm against his skin) and pulled it closer to him. His brain short-circuits as the cute librarian cradles his hand in one of his, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling something out. Wordlessly, Minho tips whatever it is into Jisung's palm, and when Jisung looks down he finds a couple of chocolate kisses sitting there. 

When he looks up at Minho, the other boy winks at him. Well, he tries. His one eye closes, but the other kind of does too. He looks absolutely silly. 

Jisung's kind of in love with him, which is stupid because he barely knows Minho. But then again, maybe Jisung's just kind of stupid. He's okay with that. 

"Why--" 

"Librarians get hungry too," Minho tells him with a smile. "And it's easier to hide than chips." 

"Oh my god, you rebel," Jisung teases, managing to steady himself again after the surprise of Minho touching his hand. He closes his fingers around the chocolate kisses, feeling sort of like he's holding the most precious treasure in the world. He got chocolate from a cute boy, and not just any cute boy, but the cute librarian he's been looking at both times he's come in here. 

"What can I say," Minho says airily, "there's more to me than meets the eye." 

"I can tell," Jisung says with a snort. 

"Hey, while we're back here I'll give you a tip," Minho says after a moment, gesturing over Jisung's shoulder. When he turns to follow where Minho's pointing, his eyes come to rest on two chairs tucked into the far corner, a little table between them. "If you don't need a lot of table space for whatever you're working on, back here might be better for you. It's kind of tucked away so if you're bothered by people looking at you in the area with the big tables you won't have to worry about that over here. Plus it's easier to snack if you're hungry. Just stay away from things that make too much noise." 

Jisung blinks rapidly. "How did you know I was bothered by other people looking at me?" 

Minho shrugs. "Just a feeling I got. Some people feel like other people are judging them for not working fast enough or doing enough when they sit out there. It's a common thing. You just seemed kind of nervous so I thought I'd suggest over here instead." 

He looked nervous? Well, he _was_ nervous. But only partially because of the eyes on him. The other reason he was nervous just handed him chocolate and told him he could see right through to how anxious he was, so there's that. 

It's kind of funny actually. He's standing here with Minho, hidden away in this private little corner of the library, and suddenly all the nervousness he's felt trying to work up the nerve to come and talk to him are nowhere to be found. Sure, his heart is still fluttering from being close to him, but he doesn't really feel nervous. There's just something about Minho once he actually starts talking that makes it seem like he's already known you for a long time. Something that puts Jisung at ease, because why would he be nervous when this boy already acts so familiar? 

"I get slipping me a few chocolates-- uh, thanks, by the way," he adds before he forgets, and Minho gives him a little smile and a nod, "but should you be advocating for me bringing more food into the library and eating it here? Like… this is your job and that's not allowed." 

Minho snorts. "Please, everybody does it. Besides, you think before I started working here I haven't snuck food in to tide me over while studying? Everybody does it and everybody knows. You just don't do it outright where people can see you. _That_ was your mistake. Well, that and trying to open an actual bag of chips." After a moment, he adds, "I mean, don't touch the books with your fingers gross from food, but that goes without saying. I _think_ I can trust you not to do that." 

"I'm not stupid," Jisung replies defensively. 

Minho's eyes glimmer with amusement. "I didn't say that you were. In fact, I said the exact opposite. I said that I _think_ I can trust you not to do that." 

"Thinking means that there's a chance I might still do it," Jisung says. 

Minho chuckles, the sound warm to his ears. "If that's how you want to interpret that, then sure." 

"You're teasing me," Jisung accuses. 

"I am," Minho admits freely. 

Jisung can't help but pout. "Stop." 

That only makes Minho laugh louder. "Stop being fun to tease then!" 

And he protests, but that doesn't change the fact that Minho's good-natured teasing makes him feel warm. 

 

\---

 

He doesn't stop back into the library until Tuesday. Minho sees him as soon as he comes in, which makes sense since this time he's sitting at the front desk. He waves him over with a smile and Jisung's all too willing to comply. 

"You're back again," Minho says, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands together in his lap as he spins his chair back and forth a bit. "Just can't stay away from me, huh?" 

The cocky smile on his face would probably make Jisung mad if he wasn't busy spluttering. 

"I'm not here for you!" Jisung protests, reaching up and hooking his thumbs under the straps of his backpack. "I do have actual work to do, you know." 

"Sure," Minho says dismissively, waving his hand. Then his smile softens. "No, I know you do." 

"I think I'm gonna try studying back in that corner you showed me before," he tells him, shifting back and forth on his feet a bit to keep himself moving. 

Minho lights up at that. "Oh, you remembered!" 

"It seems like a good idea," Jisung admits. "You were right, I might have a better chance of getting work done if I don't feel like other people are watching me." 

"I hope you do," Minho says, spinning his chair a bit more. "I'm on desk duty right now but if you're still around a bit later maybe I can check in on you back there." After a moment, he adds, "If you don't mind." 

"Of course I don't mind," Jisung says instantly, maybe a little too fast. Minho's smile is wide enough that he doesn't even have time to second guess himself for once. 

Minho glances around for a moment before he suddenly reaches into his pocket and then hold out a closed fist to Jisung, who simply stares at it in confusion. Minho shakes his fist a bit and raises his eyebrows, prompting Jisung to reach out under his. With that, Minho relaxes his fist, dropping two chocolate kisses into Jisung's palm. 

Delighted, Jisung pockets them before anybody else notices. "What are these for?" 

"For when you get hungry," Minho says, leaning back in his chair again. 

"I would've been fine," Jisung says with a little laugh, and Minho shrugs. 

"You can give them back if you don't want them," he tells him nonchalantly. 

"No!" Jisung says quickly, tightening his hand around them in his pocket like Minho's going to reach out and yank them out or something. His reaction makes Minho break out into a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. 

"That's what I thought," Minho says. 

And he does work better in the back where Minho suggested, much to his surprise. He struggles a bit, but that's more because he's still himself. He doesn't feel the pressure of having people around him anymore and the dimmer lighting makes it feel like there's less of a spotlight. He gets more done than he expected to, feeling proud of himself after doing work for the first time in a long time. 

When Minho sneaks over to see him a while later he hands him more chocolate and cracks jokes, and Jisung finds himself strangely at ease in the other boy's presence. He's charming and pretty but there's just something about him that makes Jisung feel like everything quiets down around them, all his worries pushed away for just a moment while Minho's with him. 

He feels safe. 

 

\---

 

That safety isn't a one off thing, he finds. 

In fact, over the next two weeks Jisung can't help but look forward to the strange haven he finds in Minho's company in the library. He tries hard not to go every day, the last thing he wants is to weird Minho out, but the other boy is so _charming_ and somehow it feels like Minho enjoys Jisung's company nearly as much as Jisung enjoys his. 

So he doesn't go every day, but close to it. The disappointment when the other boy isn't working is palpable, but he still sits in the little corner of the library Minho pointed out to him anyways and works to the best of his abilities. The reward of seeing Minho if he goes in to work isn't there, so he finds it a little less pleasant, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't strangely comfortable working here anyways. At least, it is now that he's not out in the open where his anxiety preys on every little thing. 

He's particularly disappointed when he shows up to the library on the Thursday of the second week and Minho's not there. He waits for him, even ventures out to mill about in the aisles to see if he can spot the librarian to no avail. Thursdays seemed to be a day he always works, so he'd been excited to get to talk to Minho. 

It's in that moment, walking aimlessly through the shelves pretending to browse for books, that he realize that he doesn't just think Minho's attractive. He _likes_ Minho. He thinks he's funny and charming and he puts Jisung's anxiety at ease and, more than anything, he'll sit and listen to Jisung ramble with no complaints for as long as he can. 

More than anything else, he wants to be Minho's friend. 

 

\---

 

"You know," Minho drawls one day, shelving books near the corner of the library that Jisung has claimed as his own over the past month. It's quiet, secluded, if he falls asleep from exhaustion nobody will notice, and best of all, he usually has a good view of whatever Minho's doing. "It feels like you've spent half the semester so far here." 

Embarrassed, Jisung drops his gaze from where it just was (Minho's hands, small and elegant, putting away books) and down to the book he's supposed to be reading for class that he's way further behind on than he reasonably should be. "It's just easier to study and do homework here, I guess." 

Minho hums, turning a blue book over in his hands to look at the cover before putting it up with the others. "Couldn't you do that in your dorm room?" 

"My roommate's loud," Jisung says, and he winces guiltily almost as soon as it's out of his mouth. Felix is great. Felix is loud. The two of them are even louder together. That's not Felix's fault. "Not like, in a bad way--" 

"You're loud," Minho points out, amusement in his voice as he looks over at him with a small smile on his face. Jisung feels his ears heat up. 

"Which is why it's not good for us to work in the same room! We distract each other." And there's truth to that, really. It was part of why he kept coming back, after all. Part of it. 

"Well, any reason you only come in during my shifts?" 

"W-what?" 

"Jisu, who works the front desk? She does more shifts than I do. She told me you're only ever here while I'm working." 

"That's not-- that's not true! Last week I was here and you weren't!" 

Minho's smirk is infuriating. (Infuriatingly handsome, the voice in the back of his head whispers.) "Let me guess. Thursday night? My usual time slot? I had a fever and called in." 

"I-- I--" 

Minho laughs then, cutting him off before he can stutter out anything else. "It's okay, Jisung. Look, you don't have to keep coming up with excuses to come here, okay? Just swing by and say hi. No need to sit here for hours every week pretending to read a book you haven't turned the page for in twenty minutes shooting me big puppy dog eyes from across the room that you think I don't see." 

"I don't give you puppy dog eyes!" 

"The first time I saw you was literally you looking at me with them." 

Fuck. He's right. 

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not bothered by it. If anything I'm flattered you keep coming in here to talk to me." Minho laughs. "It's just if you wanna be my friend you don't have to sit around here, okay? I like you just fine, Jisung. Just come talk to me." 

Jisung crosses his arms on the little table over his notebook and buries his face in them. "It makes it seem like I was stalking you." 

He hears Minho laugh again, louder this time. "I don't think you were stalking me, calm down." 

"I really wasn't," he insists, knowing his voice must be muffled but refusing to raise his head to look at the other boy. "I just really wanted to talk to you because I like hanging out with you." 

Minho snorts. Then he hears footsteps coming closer, finally stopping as he feels a hand gently rest on his shoulder. Holding his breath, he peeks up at where Minho is smiling down at him. "It's alright, Jisung. When I said you can just pop in and say hi if you want, I mean it." 

"I do come here to work too," he grumbles, dropping his gaze back to the table, still not lifting his head out of his arms. 

"I know," Minho reasurres. Then, quite smugly, he points at himself and says with the most obnoxious voice Jisung's ever heard, "But mostly for me, right?" 

"Shut up," he groans, hiding his face once more as Minho laughs much louder in a library than a librarian should. 

 

\---

 

It's gotten cooler out, the first winds of autumn blowing leaves off the trees on campus and sending them rolling across the ground of the courtyard. 

Jisung likes this time of year. The trees are beautiful when they change color, splashing the college campus in reds and oranges. He loves one in particular, a smaller tree that turns bright yellow. He watches as its leaves are shaken loose by the wind as he slowly circles the courtyard on his skateboard, taking in the autumn afternoon. 

The courtyard is mostly empty right now save for a few people walking. Soon it'll be busy again and he'll have to put his skateboard away, but for now he'll enjoy the way it feels to drift around in circles like this, the wind gently tousling his hair. 

He thinks best when he's moving, always has. And mindlessly like this, it's good for clearing his head. He needs that right now. 

He spent all week working on a paper, one he should've had done much earlier if only his brain let him focus. He had trouble understanding the topic, trouble understanding what it was exactly that he wanted to talk about. Trouble understanding everything. He made it work though, at least as best as he could. 

And he doesn't think he did terrible is the thing, but he also doesn't think he did very good. That's sort of the Han Jisung niche with school, he thinks bitterly. Not bad, but not good either. 

He wishes he was like Seungmin sometimes, who never seems to struggle with school. Who always puts his best into everything he does. Who works and works and works until everything makes sense and there's no doubt he'll succeed. 

Jisung's brain hurts just thinking about that. It's not how he works, no matter how hard he tries to fit himself into that mold. He wishes things like school came as easy to him as they did to Seungmin. 

He feels guilty almost as soon as he thinks that. He knows Seungmin works hard, it's not as easy as Jisung makes it out to be in his head. It's not fair to discredit his friend's diligence. 

Still, it's hard not to compare himself to him when all his brain wants to do is scream about how he's not good enough. All the time. 

_Well, almost all the time,_ Jisung thinks as he lets out a shaky breath. 

Strangely, his brain is quietest when he's in the library. With Minho. 

The feeling of safety that he noticed when he was with him earlier is one he still can't understand, but he's grateful nonetheless. He loves spending time with Minho because of it-- and that's only one of the reasons. 

He feels warmth in his chest as he thinks about the way Minho's laugh seems to chase away all his anxiety, the way he'll quietly nod while listening to Jisung talk. The way he slides him chocolate every day, a glimmer in his eyes. 

He spends a lot of time thinking about Minho these days, which is why it takes him a minute to realize that when he sees the librarian standing over at the nearby bench watching him, it's not just his brain pulling a prank on him. He slows until he comes to a stop, turning to raise a hand at Minho. 

The other boy smiles at him. "Are you allowed to skateboard here?" 

"No," Jisung admits, kicking up his board and tucking it under his arm before walking over to where the other boy is. "But security and staff never call me on it as long as I'm not getting in anybody's way or doing sick flips off the benches or anything, so we're good." 

"Sick flips," Minho repeats slowly, still smiling a bit. He hums then, taking a seat on the bench he was standing next to and patting the space next to him. 

Jisung doesn't bother overthinking, just accepts his invitation to sit, placing the board between them facedown. 

"So why are you here?" Jisung asks. "Shouldn't you be at work?" 

Thursdays are a consistent shift for Minho, Jisung's noticed. 

"Usually," Minho acknowledges. "I have some work I need to do for class and I need the extra time so I called in today." 

"Oh," Jisung says, leaning back slightly. "I shouldn't keep you then." 

Minho laughs. "It's okay. I could've just kept walking after I saw you over here. I wanted to talk to you and I can spare a little time before going home." 

Warmth bubbles in Jisung's stomach at that. "Well, only if you're sure." 

"I'm sure," Minho tells him. 

Jisung just smiles. 

"So, what are _you_ doing out here?" Minho asks. 

Jisung gestures at the board like it's obvious, earning him an eye roll. 

"Yeah, but why?" Minho presses. 

"I don't know. It's just kind of therapeutic to ride it a bit, even if it's just in circles and nothing fancy," Jisung explains. "It's good for thinking too. I get a lot less nervous." 

Minho tilts his head slightly at that. "Are you nervous a lot?" 

"I can be, I guess. It was way worse when I was younger and didn't know how to deal with it." And before he had medication for it, but he doesn't really feel like putting that out there right now. "I used to have a lot of problems in general, but now it's mostly just that I tend to get stuck overthinking and work myself up, especially when it comes to other people around me." 

"I'm glad it's easier for you to handle now," Minho tells him, and Jisung smiles. 

"Yeah, it still sucks sometimes but that's just part of my life. You learn to deal with it," he tells him. He's not sure why it's so easy to talk to Minho about this. Usually when someone picks up on his anxiety and asks about it, he gets self-conscious and tries to weasel out of the conversation. He doesn't feel that at all with Minho. It's something about his eyes, Jisung thinks. There's no judgement, no pity. He likes that. Minho puts him at ease, which is funny because by all means Minho should make him nervous because of how attractive Jisung thinks he is, but-- 

Well, the longer he knows Minho and the more time he spends with him, the more Jisung starts to get comfortable with him. Prone to flustered moments, sure, but comfortable none the less. 

"So do you skate a lot?" Minho asks, tapping his fingers against his knee. 

Jisung hums thoughtfully. "I guess? Like I said, it helps when I get nervous, but it's also just a good way for me to think." 

"You have trouble thinking when you're not moving," Minho observes. Jisung blinks for a moment before turning to look at him. 

"How did you know that?" Jisung asks. 

Minho just smiles. "You're always moving. Sometimes it's your feet or legs but usually it's something with your hands. You're always doing things with them." 

"I didn't think you'd notice," Jisung admits slowly. "Usually people just think I'm hyperactive-- which, I mean, I _am_ , but moving calms me down and helps my brain work better." 

"Oh, I noticed right away," Minho says, stretching his legs out. Jisung immediately feels his face flush, having a good idea where this is going. "I noticed you shake pencils a lot when you're working. I assume that's how we met." 

"Good guess," Jisung mumbles, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. Minho just laughs. "Yeah, that was me having to move my hands to think and getting a bit carried away." 

"It's alright, it all worked out," Minho says with a shrug. Then he asks, "How long have you known how to skateboard?" 

"Oh, since middle school I think?" He hums, thinking it over. "Yeah, middle school. I got a used one from my older friend and he taught me how to ride it." 

"That's cool," Minho says, and Jisung nods. 

"Can you skateboard?" Jisung asks, gesturing to the board he has laying between them on the bench. 

Minho regards it cooly for a second, and really, that's the only answer needs. Still, he replies, "Sure." 

Amused, Jisung gestures at it again. He won't let this go. "Wanna show off then?" 

The other boy stares at him, almost sizing him up. Deciding if he's going to back down from his obvious lie for the sake of pride. Minho knows he just lied. Jisung knows Minho just lied. Minho knows that Jisung knows that Minho just lied. So if ever there was a point to back down, it would be now. Finally, he says, "Alright." 

Jisung can't help the laugh that escapes his mouth. Minho shoots him a dirty look, picking the board up gingerly in a way that makes it so, so obvious that he's doing this not because he can actually skateboard, but because he's too stubborn to admit he's bad at something. "If you say so! Don't hurt yourself." 

"How would I hurt myself," Minho grumbles, standing up and plopping the board on the ground. He puts a foot on the board, and Jisung grins. Minho wobbles. Oh, this will be bad. 

It's not that he doesn't have balance, in fact Jisung thinks he has more balance than most people who hop on a skateboard with no experience have. The problem is he has no idea how to control what he's doing or what to avoid. 

That occurs to Jisung right as Minho kicks forward and rides the skateboard over a rough and uneven part of the sidewalk. He opens his mouth to warn him, but the wheels of his skateboard have already hit it and he watches in mild horror as Minho's unprepared body tumbles forward from off the board. He hits the ground hard, managing to get his hands out in front of him to stop him from bashing his face against the pavement. He skids another foot, palms against the cement. 

"Oh my god." Jisung jumps to his feet, wasting no time running over to where the other boy fell and is now sitting on his ass. The skateboard rolls until it hits a bench leg, bouncing off of it and stopping. Minho is grimacing down at the palms of his hands, which he can now see are scraped and starting to bleed from trying to stop the fall. He kneels down next to Minho, gently grabbing him by the wrists so he can inspect them. He winces when he gets a good look at them. They aren't bad by any means, but he doesn't like blood at all and the fall definitely took off enough layers of skin to make him bleed quite a bit. 

"I'm fine," Minho says, and he manages to keep his voice relatively composed despite his bleeding hands. 

"You are _bleeding_ ," Jisung retorts. Minho tries to wave him off but fails, Jisung still holding his wrists. "God, why didn't you just say you couldn't skate?" 

"I wanted to i--" Minho stops himself before he finishes whatever he's about to say, lips pressing tightly together. Then his face warps into a little scowl. "Well, I didn't think I would fall." 

"Well, you did." Minho's scowl intensifies, this time directed at Jisung. "Come on, you should wash these out. You don't want them getting infected. I have some bandaids in my dorm room if you wanna just wash up there. We aren't very far." 

For a minute the other boy almost looks like he's going to protest. Then he sighs. "Okay." 

He gingerly puts one hand on Minho's wrist and the other on his arm and helps lift him to his feet. He wobbles slightly and Jisung tightens his grip on his arm, letting Minho lean against his side to steady himself. 

"You didn't hit your head when you fell, right?" He looks up at Minho's face with concern. "I didn't see you hit it but I just wanna make sure so I know if I need to, like, bring you to the hospital or something." 

"I didn't," Minho reassures, staring down at his palms. "My hands got it all." 

"Ah, that's good," Jisung says, then immediately slams his free hand over his own mouth. "I mean, that's not good! It's bad, actually! I meant it's better than you falling on your head or something!" 

Minho snorts, letting Jisung slowly guide him in the direction of the dorms-- making sure to pick up the skateboard along the way and tuck it into his bag. Jisung is torn between rushing them there and letting him recover from his fall. He didn't hit his head luckily, but Jisung knows how disorienting it can be to take a fall off a skateboard even if it wasn't moving very fast. "I know. It's okay. I don't wanna scrape up my pretty face either." 

Jisung can't help the laugh of disbelief that slips out of him as he drops his hand from his mouth. "I meant more like I'm glad you don't have a concussion, but I'm glad your face is okay too." 

"Oh right," Minho says, almost like an afterthought. "Yeah, I'm glad I don't have a concussion too." 

They talk back and forth as they walk, Jisung trying to keep Minho occupied. Minho's acting like everything's fine, but Jisung catches the way Minho grimaces when he thinks he's not looking. His hands aren't as bad as they could've been but they definitely sting. 

When they finally get to the dorms, Jisung opts to take the stairs instead, much to Minho's confusion. 

"The elevator here is hit or miss," Jisung explains as they climb the stairs, reaching out to hold Minho's elbow so he doesn't have to put pressure on his scrapes by grabbing the railing. "Me, my roommate, and some guys down the hall from us got stuck in it on the first day, so I avoid using it if I'm in a hurry." 

"Are we in a hurry?" Minho asks, eyebrow raised. 

"I mean, I definitely don't want your hands sitting like that," Jisung tells him. 

"I'll be fine," Minho says again, and Jisung just rolls his eyes. 

_He's so bad at being vulnerable,_ Jisung thinks with a hint of amusement. It's not like Jisung would judge him or anything if he wanted to complain about being in pain. 

When they get to his floor, Jisung points out the door at the very end of the hall as his before telling Minho where the bathroom is so he can wash his hands out. He lets him do that as he unlocks the door, stepping inside. 

He's a little surprised Felix isn't here, actually. His roommate's usually around now, but he's nowhere to be seen. Ah well. Jisung dumps his bag on his bed as he walks up to his little desk and rifles around on the top of it, turning over all the things he just throws up there in search of bandaids. 

Suddenly he freezes, slowly turning around to face the rest of the dorm and actually look at it. 

It's-- well, look. It's not a disaster. Seungmin would have both their heads if they let it get too bad and would probably refuse to come over, which Felix definitely does not want, so Jisung and Felix do clean up. The problem is that the two of them have a very loose definition of the word clean. Outside of keeping Seungmin moderately happy and making sure it's still passable by inspection standards, they aren't too worried about everything in the room being spick and span. 

Jisung has a pile of dirty laundry he keeps at the foot of his bed. Not even in a basket or anything, just tossed there for when it piles up enough that him and Felix have to do a laundry run. Speaking of laundry, he still hasn't put away his clean clothes he did yesterday. He folded them at least, it's just that they're still sitting in the basket. 

Felix leaves things laying on his bed all the time and Jisung is guilty of the same. There are stacks of comic books and textbooks everywhere that both of them keep in reach when they want them. 

(Seungmin and Hyunjin had both gotten on his case for one he used to prop open the dorm door while they were moving in a new chair Felix bought after their old one had the unfortunate fate of snapping after a very tired Felix tripped over it in the middle of the night and cracked the back of it. 

"You spent all this money on it," Hyunjin had said while sitting cross-legged on Jisung's bed while the four of them tried to put together the new chair, "shouldn't you be respecting it or something?" 

Jisung had just scoffed. "They made me buy a whole expensive book for one chapter, Hyunjin. One chapter! And that's all I've used it for. They literally made me buy an expensive doorstop with some decorative text written on it.") 

So no. Jisung usually doesn't care about how his and Felix's room isn't perfectly neat. They aren't neat people. Sure, they keep in clean, but Jisung likes a certain level of clutter. He knows how to navigate his own specific kind of it and it makes the dorm seem more personal. 

But suddenly he's standing there taking in the room and realizing that his crush is about to see it and there's nothing more that he wants than to grab Felix by the shoulders, shake him, and ask why the two of them are such a mess. 

He's almost about to go on a frantic cleaning frenzy when he hears a cough in the doorway, making him spin to look. Minho is standing there awkwardly looking in, hands held in front of him slightly away from his chest. He's cleaned them already. 

"You said you had bandaids?" Minho asks, looking at Jisung with unsure eyes. 

Well, it's too late to worry about his room being perfect. Minho is here and Jisung can hardly let him just stand in the hallway. So with a sigh, Jisung gestures for Minho to come in. "Yeah. They're on my desk somewhere. Give me a second, okay?" 

The other boy nods, slipping into the room and nudging the door closed with his hip while Jisung turns back to his desk and starts rummaging through it. Eventually he finds what he's look for, making a sound of triumph before pulling some out of the box and walking over to Minho. 

Minho wrinkles his nose when he sees the bandaids that Jisung's holding out to him. "Really?" 

"They're cute," Jisung says defensively, wiggling the hand that holds the Doraemon bandaids. 

After a moment, Minho rolls his eyes and takes them from him, turning his back on the younger boy as he starts to peel the paper off them. Under his breath, he murmurs, "They're not the only thing." 

Jisung blinks, not quite sure what he heard. "What's that?" 

Without missing a beat, Minho points with his chin at a little squirrel plushie sitting on his bed. A gift from Felix that the other had gotten him after they moved in together to break the awkwardness of living with someone new, and for the most part it had worked. "Your squirrel's cute." 

"Oh," Jisung says, and scoots past Minho to pick it up and actually look at it. "My roommate got it for me as a gift. I have a lot of squirrel-themed stuff. My family and friends have always called me that, since--" 

"The cheeks and teeth," Minho finishes as he sticks the last bandaid on his scrapes, flexing his hands with a little wince. Jisung feels himself flush at having it pointed out so directly. 

"Well-- yeah." He laughs a little, it coming out a bit louder and flustered than he expects. "Honestly I've always been a bit embarrassed by it. I can never tell if people are making fun of me or not when they say it." 

"It's not a bad thing," Minho says. Jisung waits for him to elaborate but he doesn't, instead simply reaching over and gently patting the squirrel plushie on the head. _Ah,_ Jisung thinks, _cute._

"Well, that's good to hear," Jisung says with a little laugh before setting the plushie back on his bed. 

"Your phone case has a squirrel sticker on it too," Minho recalls. 

Warmth blossoms in his stomach. He's not sure why it makes him happy that Minho remembers that silly fact, but it does. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and turns to show Minho the sticker of the squirrel with the acorn on his phone case. "Yeah, I do!" 

"It's kind of funny you embraced the nickname this much," Minho says with a little smile, looking around the room. 

Jisung shifts from foot to foot at that, pocketing his phone once more. Minho looking at his room and seeing how messy he is was a source of anxiety earlier that he managed to put away when Minho came back, but suddenly it's rearing its head again as he watches Minho actually take in his surroundings. "Well, yeah. I guess it was either hate the nickname from being called it so much or accept it. I figured it would be easier just to accept it. Besides, squirrels are cute." 

"They are cute," Minho acknowledges with a laugh, turning back to look at Jisung with twinkling eyes. "I like your room, by the way. Very lived in." 

Jisung groans. Of course he'd pinpoint his anxiety over that. "That's just a nice way to say it's messy and you know it." 

Minho laughs again. "Maybe. It's not bad though. I mean, it could be dirty. This is just a little cluttered." 

"Again, that's just a nice way to say it's messy," Jisung points out. 

Minho shakes his head with an amused look, walking over to the shelf Jisung picked his bandaids off of and gently prodding at the mess there. Jisung rolls his eyes but lets him. It's not like he has anything to hide, it's just-- 

Wait. 

His eyes fall on his bottle of anxiety medication and his shoulders tense. He wasn't hiding them or anything, he doesn't see any reason to. He just doesn't like mentioning them to people, not when some people can either be so judgemental or give him pity he doesn't want. 

Minho taps the top of the bottle with a finger and hums, only to move on to poking at the pencil case shaped like a strawberry right next to it like the pills weren't anything special enough to call out. And they aren't, not to Jisung. They're just part of his normal life. 

"This is cute," Minho says, poking at the pencil case again and looking back at him with a smile. 

Jisung instantly relaxes, Minho's easy demeanor shooing all of his anxiety away. Of course Minho doesn't care. Everything about Minho and the way he's reacted to Jisung's anxiety quirks has been accepting and he's never made a big deal out of any of them. 

He likes Minho. He really, honestly does. And not just because of how cute he is. He just _likes_ him. 

"Ah, it is," Jisung says, coming over to stand by him and picking up the case. "I bought it at the store on a whim. I haven't really used it much this year though." 

"You should," Minho tells him. "Like I said, it's cute." 

"Maybe I will," Jisung says. Oh, he definitely will now. In fact, as soon as Minho leaves he will be moving all his pencils and pens into this little strawberry and tossing it into his backpack. 

And it's funny, because Minho seems so at ease here in Jisung's room. He asks about things sitting out, about where he got them or why he has them in the first place. He asks about pictures hanging on Jisung's side of the wall and he tells Minho about Jeongin, about the picture from the amusement park they went to before Jisung graduated. He tells Minho about his parents and the picture of the three of them in front of the college on the day he moved in. 

Minho asks about a lot, and Jisung finds that it's easy to talk to him about it all. 

He's not sure how long they do that, Minho asking and him answering, but eventually Minho lets out a little hum from where he now sits on Jisung's bed next to him. 

"Jisung," Minho says, and Jisung turns to look at him. 

"What is it?" 

"I think I should probably be going home," he tells him. 

"Oh," Jisung says, and he can't keep the disappointment out of his voice. 

Minho must hear it because he laughs. "Don't sound so sad! It's not because of you or anything. I just have class and work tomorrow so I need to get home and actually sleep at a decent time. I have a paper to work on before that anyways." 

"That makes sense," Jisung admits. "Then I should probably let you go, huh?" 

"Let me go," Minho repeats, sounding amused. He tries to push himself off the bed for a moment and struggles, not wanting to put pressure on his hands. Jisung immediately stands, hold out his hands to him. Minho lets him wrap his hands around his elbows and help him up, giving Jisung a smile after he's standing again. "You make it sound like you've been keeping me here." 

Jisung shrugs. "I mean, kind of? You only came here for bandaids but I just kept you talking." 

Minho snorts at that. "Please, if anything it's the other way around. I keep asking you about things because I want to know about them and that's why I'm still here-- because I like hearing you talk." 

"Oh," Jisung says again, but it comes out much cheerier than the last one. Minho laughs as the two of them head to the door. 

Minho turns around to face him again after he steps out through the threshold of the door, still smiling at him. "Thanks for having me, by the way." 

"Don't worry about it," Jisung says, waving his hand dismissively. "It's my fault I let you ride the skateboard in the first place." 

"It was," Minho says without missing a beat, completely deadpan. 

Jisung's eyebrows immediately shoot up. "Oh, okay! I see how it is! For the record, it's _also_ your fault! You got on my board anyways because you were too stubborn to just admit you didn't know how to ride one!" 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Minho shakes his head, but Jisung can see the way the corners of his lips are fighting not to turn upwards. 

"Whatever, we both know the truth," Jisung says, leaning forward with his hands on his hips. 

"The truth is that I'm just using you for your free bandaids, obviously." 

"Obviously," Jisung repeats, and he's unable to stop the wide smile that spreads across his face as he looks at Minho. Almost instantly the fake serious expression Minho's wearing falls apart, replace by a small-- and dare he say it, fond-- smile. 

They stand there like that for a moment, just smiling at each other as the silence falls over them like a blanket. He likes that about being with Minho; sometimes their banter falls away and all that's left is quiet. It's not bad, in fact it's comforting. Jisung doesn't feel like he has to keep talking to fill it, which is what his anxiety usually tells him to do when things get quiet with people. It's not like that with Minho. 

"When you smile it's shaped like a heart," Minho says out of nowhere, his voice soft, glancing between Jisung's mouth and eyes. Jisung jolts at his words, blinking rapidly at the other boy as a heat starts to creep up the back of his neck. "Has anybody ever told you that?" 

"I-- no," Jisung manages to stutter out, staring at Minho with his lips parted. He doesn't miss the way Minho watches his mouth as Jisung's smile turns into a surprised O. "No, you're-- you're the first person to ever tell me that." 

Minho frowns at that, looking at his mouth for a moment longer before meeting his eyes again. "That's a shame. It's cute." 

"Oh," Jisung squeaks, reaching up to cover his cough as he tries to play the startled squeak off like there's something in his throat. Minho just continues to give him the odd look Jisung can't quite place. "Well, thank you." 

"Don't worry about it," Minho says softly. 

Jisung's often been told he's quite dense by some of his friends, that's true, but he's not dumb enough not to guess that Minho has something he wants to say. The problem is Jisung can't figure out what, not when Minho just threw him for such a loop. 

"Minho," he starts, and the other boy's eyes sparkle in the awful dorm hall light as Jisung says his name. He might as well just ask, Minho has to go soon and it seems like he really does want to say something, so-- 

"Jisung!" 

He flinches at the sound of his own name coming from down the hall, whatever moment hanging between him and Minho shattering at the sound. Minho's expression sours instantly, which makes Jisung's stomach turn. 

With a sigh, he turns to look over at the noise, already having a good idea what he'll see: Felix, his dear roommate and friend, walking towards him with an excited wave. Seungmin is in tow, right next to him. 

"You have to be kidding," Jisung mumbles under his breath, and Minho glances between him and the two boys coming towards them. 

"Hey, Jisung!" Felix calls again, a big grin on his face. As he approaches, he seems to realize that Minho is there for the first time. "Oh, hi. Who's the friend?" 

Seungmin, to his credit, looks at Jisung's flustered face, over to Minho's incredibly annoyed face, then back to Jisung, before his own eyes widen in the realization that they just interrupted… something. Jisung doesn't even know what and the worst part is that now he'll never know. 

_The cute librarian, you dunce,_ Jisung wants to shout, but he knows Felix isn't at fault. He just doesn't always pick up on things right away. And besides, he can't exactly say that in front of the man himself. 

Minho answers for him before Jisung can get an answer out, however. "I'm Minho. Jisung's friend." 

"Oh. Hi, Minho! I'm Felix, Jisung's roommate." Felix excitedly gestures at the boy next to him, who's giving Jisung and Minho apologetic eyes. "And this is Seungmin! He's our friend who lives down the hall." 

"Hello," Minho answers curtly. 

"Felix," Seungmin says gently, tugging at the ginger's arm, "I think maybe we should go to my room instead. They're busy." 

"No, no," Minho says with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "I was just leaving anyways." 

"Oh, you don't have to," Felix insists brightly. 

"I was on my way out already," Minho explains. "I was just stopping by for a moment." 

Then he takes a step back and the moment is definitely gone, the last chance at it ended by Minho himself. Jisung feels something in his gut twist. 

"That's too bad," Felix says. "Any friend of Jisung's is welcome here! Ah, well, it was nice to meet you anyways." 

"Likewise," Minho says politely, looking at Felix and Seungmin. Then he turns to Jisung and gives him a little nod. "I'll see you around, Jisung. Thanks for the bandaids." 

And with that he turns, set to walk out after such a curt goodbye, not a trace of the warmth in his demeanor that Jisung is so used to. It hits him like a punch to the gut. 

The last thing he wants is for Minho to be annoyed, much less at him. 

"Hey," Jisung blurts out, reaching to grab Minho by the sleeve of his jacket before he leaves. Minho stops, luckily, and turns to face him again, brow still creased with annoyance. "Make sure you keep those scrapes clean, okay? I'll come back during your shift tomorrow and see you. Is that okay?" 

Minho's expression immediately softens. "Of course that's okay." 

"Okay! Good!" Jisung says, relief washing over him. So Minho isn't annoyed by him. That's what he needed to know. "I'll bring you more bandaids then, okay?" 

"Okay." Minho gives him a little nod. 

"I'll see you then," Jisung tells him, letting his hand fall off of Minho's sleeve. He gives him a tiny smile, one that Minho mirrors. It seems genuine. 

Take that, anxiety. 

Minho gives him a tiny wave at his side, sparing another nod at Seungmin and Felix before making his way down the hall towards the elevator and stairs. 

Jisung immediately lets out a hiss of breath, walking over to his friends and putting a hand on each of their backs before pushing them into the dorm room. 

As he's shoved into the room, Felix asks, "Bro, who was that?" 

"Felix," Seungmin says slowly, "that was probably the cute librarian he's been talking about for the past month." 

Felix blinks. "What? Really?" 

"Really," Jisung says dryly, putting his hands on his hips after he shuts the door behind him. 

"Wait, so what was he doing here?" 

"He tried to skate with my board and fell and scraped up his hands. I brought him here so he could wash them and borrow bandaids." 

"Did you give him the Doraemon ones?" Felix asks. 

Jisung coughs. 

"That's a yes," Seungmin concludes. 

"Shut up," Jisung says. 

"Oh! I think those are cute," Felix says. "I bet he thought they were really cute too!" 

"Well, the alternative is him thinking they're stupid and childish," Jisung says with a sigh. "So I'm hoping cute is his opinion." 

"Sorry that we interrupted," Seungmin tells him, glancing over at Felix pointedly. 

Felix catches Seungmin's look, frowning at him. Then he realizes, a look of horror passing over his face. "Oh my god. I didn't even realize." He turns to Jisung with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I interrupted you talking to your librarian. I was just so excited to talk to you--" 

"It's fine," Jisung relents, waving his hand. He doesn't have it in him to be too annoyed. It's not like he can ever stay mad at Felix anyways. "You didn't know. Besides he was just leaving anyways." 

"Still," Felix says, uncertain. "I wouldn't have done that if I realized that was your boy." 

Jisung feels warmth creep up the back of his neck. "He's not my boy. Anyways, you said you were excited to talk to me. What for?" 

"Oh," Felix says, looking suddenly nervous. He looks at Seungmin, who just raises an eyebrow at him. "Well, um--" 

And it's only then that Jisung's brain seems to wake up from it's Minho-induced fever, fully processing what's in front of him. Felix and Seungmin, of course. That's nothing new. Felix is his roommate. Seungmin lives down the hall. They're all friends. Felix and Seungmin in particular hit it off. 

What's new, though, is that Felix and Seungmin are holding hands. And, as far as he can remember, the two of them have been holding hands since they rounded the corner of the dorm hallway and interrupted him and Minho. 

"Oh my god," Jisung says, gaping at them. 

"What?" Felix blinks at him, bewildered by Jisung's sudden shift in tone. 

Jisung points at them, half-accusatory and half in awe. "You two! You're holding hands!" 

Felix promptly turns beet red while Seungmin just rolls his eyes. 

"Took you long enough," Seungmin murmurs. 

"Oh my god, wait!" Jisung points harder at them. "Are you two-- oh my god!" 

Felix finally lets go of Seungmin's hand for the first time since they ran into each other, reaching up to cover up his burning red face with both of his hands before flopping down on his bed. From behind his fingers, the blush makes his freckles pop out against his skin. 

"Yes, we are," Seungmin says after a moment of Jisung pointing at him, exasperated. 

"How long?" 

"Three days," Felix mumbles from the bed. 

"Three days," Jisung repeats in disbelief. "Why didn't I know?" 

"I mean, you've kind of been preoccupied with a certain cute librarian. Who definitely is cute, by the way. You weren't exaggerating on that." 

"But three days, you guys!" 

Felix sits up then, face still red as he looks up at Jisung with big apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry! We were going to tell you but we wanted to make sure this thing was going to last longer than a couple of days and that we really do like each other and we weren't just being dumb!" 

Jisung slowly lowers his hand from where it's been pointing at Seungmin this whole time. Then he asks, "So is it real?" 

"I think so," Felix says, looking over to Seungmin for some kind of confirmation. 

Seungmin just gives him a fond smile. "Of course it is, we were just holding hands, Felix." 

"I just wanted to be sure." 

"Oh, gross," Jisung says with a little pout. "You guys are cute." 

"Why is that gross?" 

"Because you both have a boyfriend and I don't so I'm wallowing." Then he adds, "I'm just being dramatic, I'm really happy for you both." 

"Thanks," Seungmin says dryly, but Jisung's gotten to know him enough that he can pick out how happy he actually is for the approval. 

Felix adjusts himself so he's sitting up against the wall, dragging a pillow into his arms and squeezing it to his chest. "Hey, it's not like you're totally hopeless! Your cute library boy was just here! That must mean something!" 

"Yeah," Jisung says with a scoff. "It means he fell off my skateboard and hurt his hands so I felt responsible and begged him to come here so I could help him clean it up. I think if he came here because he likes me I would know." 

"I don't know," Seungmin says with a dismissive hand wave. "You can be kind of dense sometimes." 

"Hey!" 

Seungmin just laughs. 

Jisung shakes his head. "God, whatever. Minho was just here to clean his hands. Forget about it. Are you guys gonna tell me how this happened or what?" 

"I swear he looks familiar too. I feel like I've seen him around, but I don't…" Felix trails off thoughtfully, then shakes his head. "Whatever. Anyways, you were busy practically living in the library trying to get the attention of your librarian, so I started hanging out with Seungmin more since we were free and bored. Things just kind of… happened naturally, I guess?" 

"Oh," Jisung says feeling a little disappointed. "Just that?" 

Seungmin shrugs. "We've always kind of liked each other, it's just we only realized recently that we both felt that way and wanted to try something together. It seems a little underwhelming but not all confessions are big and boisterous and that's fine." 

Jisung hums at that, nodding in acceptance. "Fine, I see that. I do have a question, though. Humor me?" 

"Just don't be dumb," Seungmin says, which is a very Seungmin way of saying shoot. 

"Who asked who out?" Jisung asks. As soon as Seungmin opens his mouth to answer, Jisung shakes his head. "Wait, don't. Actually I already know. It was definitely Seungmin." 

"It was definitely me," Seungmin agrees. 

"How?" Jisung presses. 

"I don't know, I asked him?" 

"You asked him," Jisung repeats. 

Seungmin snorts. "Yes, Jisung. I asked him if he liked me too. That's how people find out of they both like each other. That's how people start dating." 

"And you just… came out and asked him?" Jisung asks in disbelief. 

"Yes," Seungmin says with an eye roll. 

"God," Jisung says, whistling. "The power you hold, Kim Seungmin." 

"It's not power, I just got over myself and--" 

"He's a dance major!" Felix yells suddenly, making the other two boys jump. 

"What?" Jisung asks, startled. 

"Your library boy! Minho, right? There are a lot of Minhos on campus so I didn't really realize it until seeing him, but the reason he looks so familiar to me is because he's a dance major!" Felix explains excitedly. "I haven't hung out with him or anything, but I've heard of him and seen him around a bit. Our schedules don't really line up or anything but I've seen him dance a few times. He's like… god, Ji. If you think he looks good putting away books, I think you'd die watching him dance." 

"Oh," Jisung says, because he doesn't know what else to say to that. 

Mostly because he's suddenly thinking about how pretty Minho is, how elegant he looks in the library, and now he's thinking about him dancing and Jisung's brain is just-- 

"Oh my god," Seungmin says, waving a hand in front of Jisung's face. "Felix, you can't just say things like that to him. I think you broke him." 

And he recovers-- he really does-- but that doesn't mean he stops thinking about Minho dancing and _being_ a dancer for more than a few minutes at a time for the rest of the night. 

 

\---

 

He comes to the library the next day with a couple of bandaids in his pocket, just like he promised Minho. He shows up a lot later than he usually does, his class running a bit longer as it's a workshop day. It must be close to the end of Minho's shift. 

The librarian in question lights up when he sees him, Jisung having hunted him down in the section full of books on agriculture where he's putting away books gingerly, not wanting to aggravate his hands. 

"You brought them," Minho says as he takes the bandaids from Jisung, smiling wide. 

"I said I would." Jisung puts his hands back into his hoodie pockets. "Han Jisung always keeps his promises-- well, as long as he remembers them. Han Jisung can be kind of forgetful sometimes." 

"Han Jisung is very sweet and Lee Minho is grateful that he remembered for once," Minho says teasingly. 

"How could I forget something for you?" Jisung shoots back, feeling playful. 

Minho just laughs. "You're right, I'm pretty wonderful. It would be a shame if you forgot something involving me." 

Jisung rolls his eyes. "Wow." 

"Yeah." Minho puts the last book on his cart away, then turns to Jisung. "Wanna go back to your corner while I change my bandaids?" 

"Here?" Jisung says, nose wrinkling. 

Minho elbows him. "Hey! There's a trashcan back there. Besides, it's not like my hands are _that_ gross. You and your bandaids got to me in time." 

"Whatever, just don't make me look at your hands while you change them," Jisung says, knocking his elbow against Minho's in retaliation. The other boy smiles, his eyes crinkling. It's not like Jisung would ever say no to spending time with Minho. 

Not that Minho needs to know that. 

So they end up sitting in Jisung's usual spot, Minho changing his bandaids quickly while Jisung pulls out his laptop and notebook and starts going over the powerpoint he downloaded from his professor. 

"Hey," he says after a moment, glancing up from his screen. Minho's already switched out his bandaids for the new ones, flexing his hands experimentally as he looks at them. He blinks, looking up at Jisung when he speaks. "I'm sorry about my friends yesterday." 

"What?" Minho says, staring at him. Then he seems to realize what Jisung's talking about, shaking his head, "Oh, don't worry about it." 

"Are you sure?" Jisung gently taps the table with his fingers. "It's just… you seemed a little annoyed yesterday when they interrupted. I wanted to say sorry." 

"I wasn't annoyed," Minho says defensively, pursing his lips. 

"You definitely were," Jisung argues, frowning. "We haven't known each other that long but I can tell when you're annoyed." He points at his own forehead. "You get a little crease right here and your lips get really thin. Kind of like now." 

Minho immediately makes his lips relax. "I'm not annoyed now either." 

"I was annoyed with them," Jisung says easily, and Minho raises an eyebrow. 

"Why's that?" Minho asks. 

"I don't know. We were saying goodbye to each other but that still doesn't mean it's not annoying to be interrupted." That's not a lie. That is true. What he's not going to tell Minho is that he was also annoyed because his friends interrupted him talking to his crush and that it felt like they broke whatever moment they were having, even if Jisung isn't so deluded to think it was any kind of romantic moment. Still, there was definitely… a moment. And Jisung will never get to figure out what it was now. 

So yeah, Jisung knows why he was annoyed. What he can't figure out is why Minho was annoyed. 

Minho hums absently. Then he says, "Alright, I was kind of annoyed for the same reason." 

Oh. Well, that makes sense then. Nobody likes to be interrupted. 

"Was that so hard to admit?" Jisung teases. 

Minho scoffs. "I didn't want you to think I hated your friends or anything, I just don't like being interrupted even if I was in the middle of leaving, just like you said." 

"Well, if it makes you feel better they realized they were kind of rude after you left, so I think they'll try not to do that again if you're over," Jisung tells him. 

"You make it sound like I'll be coming over again," Minho says, voice rumbling with barely suppressed laughter. 

Jisung flushes. "Oh. Sorry, I just-- I figured since you were over once and you liked hanging out, maybe--" 

The laughter in Minho's voice releases then, breezy and warm. "It's okay, I'm kidding. I'd love to hang out with you more." 

Jisung scowls over the top of his laptop. "Why do you always tease me?" 

"Because it's fun and you're easy to poke and prod," Minho says with a grin. 

Jisung just rolls his eyes, watching as Minho picks up one of the books Jisung has laying on the table between them. He watches as Minho reads the back, then as he opens it and starts skimming the first page. 

He looks really nice from this angle, Jisung thinks absently. The slope of his nose and the angles of his jaw are particularly pretty. 

"Hey," Minho says suddenly, breaking the silence. Jisung manages to pull his eyes away from the boy and look down at his laptop just before Minho turns to look at him. "Jisung." 

He raises his eyes to look at Minho again, hoping he doesn't seem panicked or too obvious that he's been staring at him for the past couple of minutes. "What's up?" 

"Speaking of hanging out more, do you wanna come get something to drink with me after my shift?" 

Jisung feels his mouth go dry. "Like… drinks? Alcohol?" 

Minho snorts. "No, dumbass. I know it's Friday night but I'm not exactly keen on having a hangover tomorrow or dragging your lightweight ass around." 

He bristles on instinct, puffing out his chest and closing the book he was pretending to read. "Hey! You don't know that!" 

Minho's mouth quirks up into a smirk at that, and god he has no right to wear the look so well. It's infuriating. Then Minho pointedly lets his eyes drift over Jisung's frame from head to toe from where he's sitting before him. The fight leaves his body almost instantly, dropping his eyes to the table and wriggling in his seat as Minho looks him up and down. He reaches up and fidgets with his hair on instinct, pushing the wave of blonde out of his face before shaking his head and letting it fall back into place again. When he glances up, Minho's eyes have settled on his face again, his dark eyes glittering with amusement and his smirk softened slightly around the edges. 

"Oh, you're definitely a lightweight. It's okay though, you're still cute." His chest tightens suddenly, warmth spreading out from the center like something just spilled over. "No, not that kind of drinking. There's this little cafe not far from campus that I go to sometimes." 

At that, Jisung tilts his head slightly. "Isn't there a coffee place on campus?" 

"It sucks," Minho says dismissively, waving his hand. "It's okay in a pinch I guess if you're like, really desperate and don't have time to get something else. That's about it though. This place is much better." 

Jisung's only been to the coffee place on campus a few times and now that he thinks about it, the hot chocolates he's gotten from there have always been a bit watered down. He hadn't thought too much about it though. When a guy wants some hot cocoa, a guy's gonna get his hot cocoa even if it's a bit watery. 

That said, he hasn't had a good hot chocolate in a while because of it. 

Besides, it's _Minho_ asking him to go. Of his own free will. To hang out with him. At a cafe! 

Jisung's not stupid enough to recognize that this is exactly the kind of thing he's been waiting for, and he doesn't even have to be the one to try to fumble around with asking Minho to hang out. 

"Tonight?" He repeats, mostly for clarity. 

"Mhm," Minho confirms. "I get off my shift at six in like half an hour." 

"Isn't that a little late for coffee?" Jisung says it with a smile, making sure he doesn't sound like he's trying to find an out. He most certainly isn't trying to. 

Minho doesn't seem to take it that way at all luckily. "Time is fake at college, Jisung. Haven't you figured that out by now?" 

Jisung can't help but laugh. "Well, I guess if you put it that way, I have no reason to refuse." 

"How could you ever turn me down anyways?" Minho teases, waggling his eyebrows in a way that only makes Jisung laugh harder. 

"I don't know, how could I?" Jisung says through his laughter, and Minho has no idea how honestly he means that. 

With that, Minho stands, taking a few steps back from Jisung's table. "So it's settled then. Be waiting for me at six, okay?" 

"I'll be here," Jisung says, gesturing at the little corner of the library he's set aside for himself. 

And when Minho grins at him, Jisung can't help but grin back. 

The next half hour is possibly the slowest thirty minutes Jisung's ever experienced in his life. He tries his best to focus on his work, he really does, but he's so giddy suddenly that it's hard. 

He's hanging out. With Minho. 

And Minho was the one who asked him. 

Minho wants to hang out with him. 

When Minho finally reappears, Jisung's face hurts from smiling the whole time he waited. 

"You ready?" Minho asks, a black athletic jacket pulled on over his tan button-up. 

Jisung slips his laptop into his backpack with the rest of his things, getting to his feet. "You know I am." 

"Let's go," Minho says, gesturing towards the front of the library with an easy smile. 

Jisung barely stops himself from skipping as the walk out together. 

Just barely. 

"So how far of a walk is it?" Jisung asks, shoving his hands into his pockets as they fall into step with each other, the lights of campus glowing above them, casting Minho's dark hair in an almost golden halo. Jisung shyly drops his gaze to the sidewalk in front of him, warmth on his cheeks. God, but Minho's pretty. 

"Walking?" Minho repeats incredulously. "Who says we're walking?" 

Confused, Jisung immediately raises his eyes to Minho again. "What do you mean? We're going to the cafe, we're walking there right?" 

"Walking," Minho says again, the same amount of disgust in his voice. "Please, I'm not walking and I'm not going to make you walk. The furthest we're walking is the parking lot like a block from here where my car is parked." 

"Wait," Jisung says slowly, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. "You can _drive_?" 

Minho stops in his tracks, Jisung taking a few more steps before he realizes and stops as well, turning to face the other boy. Minho looks baffled. "Why do you sound surprised?" 

"Uh, I don't know? I guess you just don't seem like the driving type?" In fact, Minho being legally considered road certified is so bizarre to him that he doesn't even really know how to connect that with the image he's built of Minho in his head. It's not even like it's the most outrageous fact ever, it's just not something he expected. Jisung himself can't even drive yet. 

"What does that mean?" Minho says, voice raising. He doesn't seem _mad_ , just baffled and maybe a little offended. "I'm a capable adult! I drive!" 

"I'm sorry!" Jisung says, unable to stop a little laugh from escaping. "I just genuinely wasn't expecting it!" 

Minho huffs loudly, shaking his head. "Honestly. I don't even know if I should go out with you now." 

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jisung says, laughing louder and taking a step closer. In a moment of bravery he hooks his arm with Minho's, linking them together. "I'm so sorry! Please come get drinks with me Mister Capable Adult!" 

After a moment, Minho rolls his eyes. "Only because you asked nicely and apologized." 

And with that they start walking again. It's not until they're in front of Minho's car (nothing fancy, just a little black thing with a few dents-- which is still a car though which is better than his, well, skateboard) that Jisung realizes he never unlinked their arms and Minho never shrugged him off. 

Warmth creeping up the back of his neck, Jisung slides his arm out from Minho's and lets the other boy fish around in his bag for his keys, watching as he pulls them out and unlocks the car. 

He turns and gestures between Jisung and the car. "Your carriage awaits!" 

Jisung snorts. "What am I? Cinderella?" 

Minho makes a noise of disgust, going over to open his car door and start climbing in. "Please. My car isn't a pumpkin. It's not orange enough, thank god." 

"Having an orange car would build character," Jisung says with a smile as he walks to the passenger side and gets in too. It's small in here, but he doesn't feel as boxed in as he expected being in here with Minho. He was worried he'd be scared out of his mind at being so close to him like this, but he feels strangely at ease. Safe, almost. That's something he's been noticing a lot the more time he spends with him: once he gets past his initial nerves with Minho, he feels comfortable with him. Like they've known each other for years. 

Minho scoffs as he starts up the car. "I have plenty of character without an ugly orange car, thanks." 

"Your loss," Jisung replies as he clicks his seatbelt in. 

 

\---

 

Minho wasn't lying about it being right off of campus. They only drive for about ten minutes before they're pulling off to the side of a street along a little block of buildings. The cafe, it turns out, is on the corner. It's tiny, much smaller than the one on campus. It seems like a family run small business. It's warm inside, a cozy cream and coffee brown color palette to the decor. There's only two other people inside besides them and the girl working the counter, who looks just a bit older than Jisung. The two seem like a couple, Jisung notes, or at least he'd guess that based on the way they keep smiling at each other and coming up with excuses to touch each other's hands. 

"What do you want?" Minho asks him as they approach the counter, giving a little nod up to the big board on the wall where the menu has been scrawled out in colorful chalk. It has cute little doodles all around it as well. Jisung really likes this place already. 

Jisung leans against the older's shoulder, peering up at the board. A lot of it sounds good to him. If he comes back he'll have to try some, but a glance at the clock and the anxiety over Minho buying him something new and him not liking him drives him back to old faithful. "I think I'll just have a hot cocoa, if that's okay." 

"Hot cocoa?" Minho repeats, looking back at him with an amused smile. "What are you, five?" 

"And a half," he declares proudly. "Besides, it's after six. I get anxiety jitters if I have coffee this late." He already has enough of those just hanging out with Minho, he doesn't need any more. 

"Cute," Minho says, and Jisung feels his face flush for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. When the server comes up to the counter Minho pulls out his wallet and tells her, "Two large hot chocolates." A glance over his shoulder at the younger boy. "One with extra whipped cream." 

"That'll be a little extra," she says, and Jisung opens his mouth to tell Minho it's okay, but Minho waves him off before he can. 

"That's alright. I'll take two of the cinnamon coffee cake slices too." 

"Oh." Jisung turns to Minho. "You don't have to--" 

"I want the coffee cake, Jisung. Don't worry. And I think you'd like it too." Minho reaches up and puts a hand on Jisung's elbow reassuringly. Were he any more transparent, he'd melt on the spot at the touch. As it is, he simply clears his throat. A little smirk plays across Minho's lips then, before he adds, "Not everything's about you." 

He gives Minho a pout, suddenly not flustered at all by the touch anymore. Minho's really good at throwing him out of his blushing thoughts about being around him and into exasperated friend mode. "I wasn't making it about me!" 

"Sure," Minho says teasingly in a tone that can only jokingly mean _I don't believe you_. 

Jisung turns and whacks him lightly on the arm, making Minho laugh. 

They end up seated at a booth in the far corner, Jisung on one side and Minho on the other. They chat for a while about their day, and Jisung's surprised. Small talk is easy with him. It doesn't feel like an awkward transition between topics like it does with some people. With Minho he likes hearing him talk about anything and everything, and it almost seems like Minho feels the same way about him. His crush on the other boy aside, it's really nice to have a friend like this where everything just comes so natural and easy. 

They don't have to wait very long though, because soon the waitress is bringing over their order. A lot faster than the shitty coffee shop on campus, Jisung notes. No wonder Minho doesn't like that place. Maybe he'll convert Jisung into disliking it completely after all. 

Jisung stares down at the mountain of whipped cream on top of his mug of hot chocolate in awe as the waitress puts it down in front of him, admiring the drizzle of chocolate and marshmallows topping it. "You really didn't have to get extra whipped for me, Minho." 

Minho snorts. When Jisung looks up at him from across the table, the other boy is smiling slightly, staring down at his own mug of hot chocolate with a much more moderate amount of whipped cream. 

"What's so funny?" Jisung asks, not catching the joke. 

Minho shakes his head with a giggle. A giggle. It's a little delirious sounding, not something he'd expect to come from the handsome soft-spoken librarian, but he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he didn't think it was adorable. "I definitely didn't need to get extra whipped for you. It's okay though. It worked out." 

"I mean, it definitely did. Look how good this looks!" Jisung gestures at his mug with a grin. 

Minho looks at him for a moment. Then he starts giggling again. "You're adorable." 

Minho's giggles are positively infectious, and at the seemingly out of the blue praise, Jisung can't help but grin a bit timidly, little nervous chuckles escaping. "What did I do?" 

Minho shakes his head. "I don't think your brain processes half the things you say before you get it out. Don't worry about it." 

"Whatever you say," Jisung says before turning his attention back to his drink. He blows on it a little before daring to take a sip, nose wrinkling when it burns his tongue. Yep. Too soon to drink. 

That doesn't stop him from taking more sips though. 

Minho, however, is smart enough to just leave his alone to sit and cool down a bit, simply talking to Jisung while they wait. 

"So," Jisung says suddenly, resting his chin on his hand as he recalls something he's been meaning to ask about, "you're a dance major?" 

Minho raises his eyebrows at him. "Where'd you learn that?" 

"My roommate, Felix? Ginger? Loud? He's a dance major too and he recognized you. Our friend Hyunjin is one too and he said he knew your name too." 

He hums in response. "I am." 

"Wow," Jisung says softly. "You must be really good for people to recognize you." 

"Would it be egotistical to say I am?" Minho asks thoughtfully. 

"Maybe to some people? But if it's the truth then it's just stating the facts," Jisung says. "No shame in being proud of what you're good at." 

"That's a really sweet answer," Minho says honestly. "I was just going to say that it's a good thing I have a big ego and know I'm good and don't care about playing coy about it." 

Jisung snorts. "I like that about you." 

"It's part of my charm." And with that Minho picks up his drink and takes a tentative sip. After a moment he smiles, seemingly liking what he finds and taking a bigger sip. 

Taking that as a good sign that his has cooled down, Jisung tries his again too and luckily it has. Now that it's cooled down, he can fully appreciate it. It's really good, not watered down at all. He can also faintly taste… cinnamon? He hasn't tried the coffee cake in front of him yet, so it must be in the cocoa as well. 

"This is really good," Jisung murmurs, forcing himself not to chug it. 

"It is," Minho agrees. "I haven't had hot chocolate in a while. I usually just got some kind of coffee." 

"You should get it more," Jisung suggests, taking another sip and wiping the bit of whipped cream off his lip with his thumb and licking it off before continuing. "I know I said I don't get coffee much because it gives me jitters when it's later but even if I didn't I'd still get cocoa a lot. It makes me feel really warm and happy and I think it's partially because it makes me think about when I was a kid and I'd come home on cold days and they're be a cup of it waiting for me. It just reminds me of happy things like that so I always feel happy when I drink it, even now, even if I'm in a bad mood when I drink it." 

A moment passes before he realizes Minho hasn't responded. Feeling warmth on his cheeks, he glances up at the other boy, who's simply looking at him with an expression Jisung can't quite place, lips parted slightly and eyes glowing warm in the light of the cafe. 

"Sorry," Jisung says, clearing his throat. "That's way too much information you wouldn't care about. I just like cocoa, I guess." 

"No," Minho says slowly, his thumb tracing the outside of the mug where he holds it. "It's okay. I like hearing you talk like that. I think it's really sweet that you put so much thought into stuff, even if it's just little things that wouldn't matter to a lot of other people. I'm glad it makes you happy too. I think it's good to take happiness wherever we can find it." 

"Ah, thank you," Jisung says quietly, because he doesn't know what else to say. He's not used to people taking his sentimental ramblings seriously or not making fun of him for it, even if it's not serious. It's… a nice change of pace. 

"And of course I care about what you have to say," Minho says, his voice pointed. "You're my friend." 

Jisung can't help but smile at that, and it hurts his cheeks with how wide it goes. Minho's his friend. Minho's his friend and he cares about all his silly thoughts. 

They go back to their drinks after that, although Jisung can't seem to wipe the smile off his face. He really does like Minho. And not just because he's pretty or hot or because Jisung has some strange jumble of feelings for him, but because Minho is really funny and sweet and actually cares about listening to him. And not only does he listen, but he seems to understand him. 

He's really glad he met him. 

Suddenly Minho slams both his hands on the table, palms flat. Not hard, but enough to get Jisung's attention back from his sappy thoughts and cause him to jump, cradling his mug tightly so as not to spill any of what's inside. A little smile spreads across Minho's face. 

"I have an idea," he says. 

Jisung blinks rapidly, startled. "What?" 

"We don't really know much about each other. Let's play a game. I give you two things and you tell me which one you like better. Then you ask me something back." Minho leans back in his seat, spreading his arms out. "Perfect solution!" 

Jisung taps his fingers against the table, not having touched his coffee cake yet out of fear of eating it too fast and embarrassing himself. Felix jokes that he's a vacuum. He doesn't mind that from Felix, but the idea of doing that in front of Minho… makes him nervous, to say the least. "Speed run getting to know each other?" 

"We already know each other," Minho points out. "We hang out a lot, we just haven't really gotten the little facts about each other that friends should know. So let's do that all right now!" 

Jisung laughs then. "Alright!" 

They go back and forth for a while. They have a lot of matching preferences, Jisung realizes, but a lot of differences too. Not anything major, but enough to keep things interesting. He loves hearing Minho's answers, loves the way his face scrunches up as he thinks about his answer sometimes. 

(He stops caring about not scarfing down his coffee cake, completely at ease with Minho as they laugh at each other's answers. Minho doesn't seem bothered at all by how fast Jisung eats it, just gives him an amused smile and keeps asking questions while waiting for Jisung to answer around mouthfuls.) 

At some point the game devolves. Or maybe it evolves. Jisung's not too sure, but soon they're just talking about anything and everything, volunteering facts about themselves and either matching theirs against each other or comparing their differences. 

Minho is a dance major. He's tried a lot of different things as a way to express himself but dancing was the thing that really stuck. Jisung asks if he has any videos of him dancing and Minho positively glows, telling him that he doesn't have any on him but next time they hang out he'll bring his laptop and show him the ones on there. Jisung tells him he can't wait, and he genuinely can't. 

Jisung is getting a degree in music production. He's been fascinated with making music since he was a kid. Minho asks him if he writes lyrics too and when Jisung proudly says that he does, Minho tells him that it's cool that he can take part of himself and put it into music like that. Jisung laughs when Minho tells him he'd love to hear some of his music sometime, flustered by the boy's interest. 

They both like cats. Jisung's never had any, he just thinks they're cute. Minho has two but they live with his parents back home because the apartment he shares with his roommate doesn't allow pets. 

Minho's best friend is his roommate Changbin. They've been roommates since they were put in the same dorm room last year and moved into an apartment together this year after they hit it off. 

Jisung's best friend is a year younger and his name is Jeongin. They don't talk as much as they used to because Jeongin's busy getting ready to graduate and Jisung's adjusting to college, but they talk when they can and Jisung can't wait for him to visit when he gets the chance. Jeongin's step-brother goes here anyways, so he's bound to visit eventually. He admits he kind of thinks of Felix as his best friend too, which is funny since they've only known each other a few months but they just connected so much. 

("Some people come into your life suddenly and it's like you've known them forever," Minho says thoughtfully. "Like you can't even imagine a time when they weren't there in some way." 

"That's exactly how it's like," Jisung agrees. Then he asks, "Are you speaking from experience?" 

Minho gives him a funny little smile. "Maybe so, Han Jisung." 

Jisung can't help but smile back, because Felix isn't the only one he feels that way about.) 

Minho's favorite color is mint. 

Jisung's favorite color is red, although he adds that he really likes magenta too. 

Minho wanted to be an artist as a kid before he realized he was better suited for dancing. 

Jisung wanted to be an astronaut before he grew up and realized just how much math was needed to reach the stars and decided he'd be fine on the ground looking up at them. 

Minho drinks a lot of coffee to keep him awake between his classes and job. 

Jisung likes coffee but can't have too much because of his aforementioned caffeine jitters. 

Minho likes dark chocolate. 

Jisung likes literally any kind of chocolate and will eat anything that you give him. Minho snorts when he hears this. 

"What?" Jisung says, squinting at the other boy, his mug and little plate empty in front of him. Both of them have been done for a while and instead have just been sitting here talking. 

"Nothing," Minho says with a shake of his head. "It's just you seem like somebody who'd really like chocolate, that's all." 

He blinks. "What does that mean?" 

"I don't know. It's just this energy you have, I guess." Minho taps the table in front of him thoughtfully. Suddenly he smirks, eyes glittering with mischief. It makes Jisung uneasy. That always means he's going to say something that's going to throw him for a loop. "I can tell you like chocolate because you're just as sweet as it." 

Ah. There it is. 

The knowledge that _something_ was coming doesn't make Jisung any more prepared, however, feeling heat creep up his cheeks. "You're so obnoxious." 

"I'm only telling the truth!" Minho says with a laugh. 

Jisung rolls his eyes and doesn't respond, simply leaning back in his seat and folding his hands in his lap. The two of them settle into silence. It's not one filled with tension and discomfort where the need to say something and fill the silence is overwhelming, instead a comfortable one. Jisung feels safe at this table with Minho's quiet company, both of them just enjoying each other's presence and the atmosphere of the cafe. There's no pressure, just the easiness of knowing that they fit together well enough that they didn't have to talk to enjoy being together. 

It makes Jisung feel warm inside. 

Although maybe that's just the hot chocolate, now that he thinks about it. 

Ah. Either way. 

When Minho pulls his phone out of his pocket to check something, a thought occurs to Jisung. 

"Hey," he says suddenly, and Minho looks up at him with a couple of little blinks. "I just realized we've been talking this whole time but I never actually got a phone number." 

"Really?" Minho seems surprised. "I honestly didn't even think about it. I guess you're right." 

"Do you… mind?" Jisung asks, pulling his own phone out of his pocket. 

"Let me send a text to myself from your phone and then we'll both have each other's numbers," Minho suggests, already reaching a hand out across the table palm up. 

Jisung agrees, unlocking his phone and bringing up his messages before handing it to Minho. The other boy quickly taps out a short text and hits send, and the little ding from Minho's phone from where it sits on the table tells them it worked. 

With a smile, Minho hands Jisung's phone back. "There. Nice and simple." 

He looks down at the text Minho sent himself and snorts. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**its squirrel boy**

 

"Why squirrel boy?" Jisung shakes his head, saving the contact under Minho's name before sliding it into his pocket. 

With a small smile, Minho leans his cheek against his hand. "You know why. Because you like squirrels and you are a squirrel!" 

Jisung huffs. "You better not save my number under 'squirrel boy' though." 

"No promises," Minho says in a sing-song voice. 

"How would you feel if I just saved you under 'librarian', huh?" 

"Hurt. Let down." Minho places his other hand over his heart in feigned agony. "At _least_ save me as 'hot librarian'." 

Thinking about the times he and his friends have called Minho just that, Jisung coughs. "No. I think Minho's just fine." 

"Suit yourself!" And with that Minho stretches, a soft whine coming from his throat before a yawn squeezes out. He reminds Jisung of a cat, he realizes with a little smile. He checks his phone again, humming thoughtfully before putting it away. "It's getting kind of late. I should probably drive you back." 

"Oh," Jisung says, unable to keep the hint of disappointment out of his voice. "I didn't realize how long it's been. Yeah, I guess you probably should." 

Minho tilts his head to the side as he smiles at him. "Don't sound so sad. I'm definitely going to take you out again." 

Jisung perks up at that. "Really?" 

"Sure, I like hanging out with you," Minho says, stretching again. "Besides, I get hungry after my shift so it works out anyways." After a moment, Minho smile turns mischievous. "The bonus here is I get to see you with your cheeks all puffed up." 

Jisung coughs, sputtering as he reaches up to cover his mouth (and the blush that's surely creeping up his face) as Minho just laughs at him. 

"You're so cute!" Minho coos, which only serves to make Jisung cover his face more. 

"I thought you weren't going to say anything!" Jisung complains, fingers touching his cheeks and finding that they're _definitely_ warming up. 

"I've never seen anyone eat like that," Minho says. "You really are a squirrel! I thought it was just because of how your cheeks normally are but it's because of how you eat too, right?" 

"It's so embarrassing," he says with a huff, dropping his hands back down to his lap and scowling at Minho, who simply smiles back. "People always make fun of me for it." 

Minho hums then, tapping that table. "Do you want me to stop?" 

Jisung's scowl drops at that. "Stop what?" 

"Stop mentioning it?" 

"The way I eat?" Jisung asks, blinking. 

Minho rests his arms on the back of the booth as he looks at Jisung. "Yeah. Do you want me to stop talking about the way you eat?" 

He actually can't remember anybody ever asking that. "I mean… are you making fun of me when you talk about it?" 

"No," Minho says evenly. "I think it's cute. I'm teasing you a little, I guess, but not in a bad way. If you don't like it I'll stop." 

Huh. 

"You don't have to," Jisung says slowly. "As long as you're not making fun of me, I don't mind." 

"I'll keep that in mind," Minho says, and with that he slides out of the booth and stands, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. "Let's go pay and I'll drive you home." 

"Oh," Jisung says, scrambling out of the booth to join Minho. "Okay!" 

Jisung hovers behind Minho as he waits at the counter for the worker to come back and take his card. He leans forward over the glass shelf and stares at all the treats, namely a slice of strawberry cheesecake that looks particularly delicious. He'll have to try that next time. 

And he can't help but smile at that thought, because Minho himself said he wants to hang out together again. 

"What are you looking at?" Minho asks, leaning over so their shoulders brush. 

Jisung points at the cheesecake. "That looks really good. I think I'll get that next time we come here." 

"You don't have to wait," Minho says with amusement, and Jisung turns to look at him in confusion. Before he can ask, the waitress comes back to the counter and Minho's handing her his card. Before she can swipe it, he reaches over and taps at the glass shelf. "I'll take a slice of that to go, please." 

"Minho!" Jisung says, grabbing onto the older's arm. "You don't have to!" 

"I don't," Minho agrees as he watches the waitress pull out a slice and put it in a little box. "I want to." 

"Minho," he whines, tightening his grip on Minho's arm as the waitress swipes Minho's card and hands it back to him, Minho sliding it back into his wallet and pocketing it before taking the little box from her. 

"Look how nice I am," Minho says teasingly, pushing the box against where one of Jisung's hands is wrapped around his arm until Jisung finally relents and takes it from him with a pout. "Aren't I nice?" 

"You didn't have to," he says again, fully untangling himself from Minho arm now as they walk together out of the cafe and down to where the car is parked. 

"But I wanted to make you happy," Minho says with a laugh as he climbs into the driver's seat, and despite himself Jisung can't stop the smile that spreads across his face. 

He is happy, but not just because of the cheesecake. 

 

\---

 

Minho drops him off at the parking lot closest to his dorm and says his goodbyes, waving at Jisung every time he turns around to see if he's still there. When he finally gets back to his dorm, he slides the box into his and Felix's little mini fridge-- mostly full of energy drinks right now-- before collapsing onto his bed. 

His roommate isn't around right now and he has the sneaking suspicion that he's probably with Seungmin. 

_Good for him,_ he thinks sleepily, reaching up to rub at his eyes. Hopefully both of them have had a good day. 

His pocket buzzes then and he pulls it out expecting a text from Felix. Instead, Minho's name flashes on the screen. 

 

**[Minho]**  
**did you get home okay?**

 

Jisung smiles. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**yeah! i'm in bed right now**

**[Minho]**  
**oh wow it's only eight i knew you were younger than me but i didn't think your bedtime was this early**  


**[Jisung]**  
**oh my god shut up**  
**i'm not sleeping yet i just wanna be cozy**

**[Minho]**  
**okay that's fair**

**[Jisung]**  
**what about you?**  
**did you get home alright**

**[Minho]**  
**mhm**  
**just pulled into the parking lot now**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh are you still in your car?**

**[Minho]**  
**yeah**

**[Jisung]**  
**shouldn't you go in before talking to me lmao?**

**[Minho]**  
**maybe i just couldn't wait to talk to you :)**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh i hate that i can see your smug smile after you said that**

**[Minho]**  
**it is my trademark!**  
**hey speaking of seeing my smug smile**  
**send me a selfie and i'll send you mine**

**[Jisung]**  
**wait why**

**[Minho]**  
**for your picture, dumbass**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh**  
**OH!**  
**but i'm gross right now :(**

**[Minho]**  
**i literally just saw you and you're nowhere near gross stop being a baby**

**[Jisung]**  
**but i am a baby :(**

**[Minho]**  
**you looked CUTE give me your damn selfie already**

**[Jisung]**  
**FINE give me a second**  
**send me yours first**

 

Almost as soon as he sends that, Minho sends a picture back. He clearly just took it while sitting in the car, his seatbelt still across his chest. His hair is slightly more ruffled than it was when he was with Jisung earlier, like he was running his fingers through it, and he's making a dumb kissy face at the camera. 

Jisung rolls his eyes, smiling to himself. How very Minho. 

The worst part is that Minho looks effortlessly pretty even in the bad lighting. 

He changes Minho's picture to it, then saves it to his own camera roll. Minho sent it to him after all, it's not too weird to save it, right? 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**i don't know why i didn't expect you to make that face in selfies but i really should've**

**[Minho]**  
**you should've!**  
**anyways chop chop where's yours it better be here before i get up to my apartment**

 

He sits up in bed, opening his camera and frowning when his own face appears. He doesn't really like taking selfies. He's no good at them and half the time he doesn't like how they turn out. He would just send Minho an old one-- he has one from first semester back when his hair was dark-- but he kind of gets the impression that Minho wants a new one and he definitely doesn't have one of those on hand. 

So he tilts his head, trying his best to smile in a way that looks natural. He brushes his hair out of his eyes and sweeps it to the side, then moves it back, unsure what to do with it. Finally, he settles on just taking a bunch in quick succession, deleting the ones he definitely doesn't like until he narrows it down to one picture of him pouting and flashing a peace sign. 

He doesn't… dislike it. He also doesn't really like it. He doesn't look anywhere near as effortlessly pretty as Minho does. 

_It'll have to do,_ Jisung thinks as he sends it. 

The next few minutes of waiting for Minho's response are the most nerve-wracking of Jisung's life-- which is saying something, because he's an inherently nervous, jumpy person. He knows Minho is heading up to his apartment and giving him time to send it, but that doesn't make him any less anxious about the other's response. 

After what feels like an eternity, his phone lights up again 

 

**[Minho]**  
**see? i told you that you look cute!**

 

Jisung picks up his pillow and shoves his face in it, momentarily considering just… screaming into it. 

He doubts the other people in the dorm would appreciate that though, so he doesn't. Instead, he takes deep breaths before setting his pillow down and picking his phone up again. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**i guess i'll have to take your word for it**

**[Minho]**  
**i ONLY speak the truth**

**[Jisung]**  
**^o^**

**[Minho]**  
**do you always use emoticons?**

**[Jisung]**  
**is it dumb?**

**[Minho]**  
**no it's cute**

**[Jisung]**  
**you know you've called me cute twice back to back now**

**[Minho]**  
**stop being cute then :/**  
**anyways i just wanted to check in on you**  
**i had fun today and i really do mean it when i said we should hang out some more**  
**i don't know when you're free but we can just kind of wing it**  
**does that sound okay?**

**[Jisung]**  
**that sounds more than okay!!!!**  
**^o^**

**[Minho]**  
**i'll see you whenever you swing by next then :)**  
**also i'll absolutely bother you all the time now that i have your number**  
**i hope you realize that**

**[Jisung]**  
**is it bothering me if i like it? :/**

**[Minho]**  
**oh! cheeky! i like it!**

 

_And I like you,_ Jisung thinks, smiling down at his phone. 


	2. the electrifying feeling when our hands touch (i shouldn't feel it, right?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer.

The problem with life, Jisung decides as he sits in the library a week later, is that no matter how good things are going, they always come crashing down. 

That may seem a little bleak, but Jisung thinks he's pretty entitled to think like that when it seems like everything always follows that cycle. Just like clockwork, the high of hanging out with Minho-- twice now, because Minho took him back to the same cafe on Monday-- is brought low again by, predictably, academia. 

Specifically it's brought low by him checking his grades for an exam, one that he actually put a lot of effort into. And he passed, is the thing. He passed, but just barely. But the grade is just so… bad to him. It says everything about who he is in school. Not a failure, not totally, but nothing good either. 

He feels awful. 

So that's how he ends up here in the library, miserably scrolling through his backlog of powerpoints he downloaded like it'll help him at all. The exam is past the point of saving as far as his professor is concerned and that just makes it all the worse. He can't even do anything about it. 

Honestly, he didn't really even want to leave the dorm room after he came back from class. He just wanted to curl up in bed and mope on his phone for the rest of then night, but Felix was hanging out with Seungmin and Hyunjin and he didn't want to bring them down. Besides, this corner of the library is quiet and secluded. Nobody can see him being depressed, which is definitely a plus. 

Well, nobody but Minho, who comes over and plops down next to him in the other chair in the corner after a while, flashing him a big smile. 

"Hey stranger," Minho says, stretching in his seat. "You didn't say hi to me when you came in earlier. I would've totally missed you if I didn't catch that back of your head slipping away back here when I looked up." 

Jisung manages to put on his best smile for Minho, trying his best to make his shoulders relax from the stiff position they've been in all day. "Sorry. I just wanted to get back here as fast as I could and… work." 

And mope. 

"What's wrong?" Minho asks instantly, his easy smile sliding off his face only to be replaced with a frown. Jisung flinches at the way the other boy is able to see straight through him. 

"Who says anything's wrong?" Jisung asks, still smiling even though it feels strained. 

Minho's frown deepens. "You don't have to. I know you. I can tell something's off." 

Fuck. 

Smile falling away, he gives a little shrug. "I didn't do great on an exam." 

Slowly, Minho sits up in his seat again, turning his attention fully on Jisung. "Do you wanna talk to me about it? I'm a good listener." 

Jisung looks at him for a moment, then he slowly closes his laptop. It's not like it will actually help him right now, it's just been making him more and more miserable going through his old notes for the exam. "I didn't fail or anything, although I got really close. I just… tried so hard to study for this one, and I really felt like I had everything down. Then I sat down to actually take the exam and it's like my mind went blank." 

Minho nods slowly, not saying anything. He just looks at him, listening, accepting everything that Jisung needs to vent. 

It's really nice, actually. To have someone not make comments back to him and just let him get things off his chest. 

"I think the worst part is when I asked my professor what I could do to make up points, he told me that I could be be doing a lot better if I just _applied myself better_. I'm trying!" He drops his head into his hands, feeling a migraine coming on. He's prone to them when he gets stressed out and today has been anything but stress-free. Quietly, he says, "I really am trying." 

"I know you are," Minho tells him, voice soft. He feels a light touch on his arm, and when he raises his head up out of his hands, Minho's bridged the gap between them to touch him reassuringly, fully placing a hand on him. He gets the impression that while Minho's a good listener, he's not too great with actually dealing with comforting people-- especially judging by the unsure look in his eyes, like he's not sure if he's doing this right. But Jisung appreciates it. He really does. 

"I'm just so tired of trying only for everybody to tell me that's still not good enough," he says, suddenly exhausted. "I'm so… tired. Just tired. Today has been awful and it started awful and it's going to end awful. I'm going to go to bed feeling awful and I'm going to wake up tomorrow and still feel awful because nothing's changed." 

He knows he's being dramatic, that he's wallowing. He knows. He braces for Minho to tell him that, to tell him to stop being so stupid. 

Instead, Minho slowly asks, "Can I help you?" 

Jisung blinks slowly, caught off guard by the other boy not chastising him for being so pessimistic. Minho doesn't question his feelings, just offers to try to help. _Can_ he help, Jisung wonders? He's not sure how, but then again, Lee Minho is full of surprises. 

"Unless you can suddenly fix my brain so it works the way the education system wants it to, I'm not sure," Jisung says, but he doesn't say no. 

Minho seems to notice that, because he offers Jisung a small smile as he squeezes his arm. "I can't do that, but I _can_ try to make your night a little better so you aren't going to sleep totally miserable." 

Jisung frowns. "What do you mean?" 

Minho reaches over to where Jisung's phone is sitting on the table where he left it out in case he got any messages, waking it up just long enough to check the time. 5:57 pm. His shift's almost over. 

Minho stands then, straightening his sleeves a little as his looks at Jisung. "Do you trust me to try cheering you up?" 

"What are you gonna do?" Jisung asks uncertainty. 

All Minho does is repeat, "Do you trust me?" 

Jisung stares at him for a long moment. Then he says, "I trust you." 

Minho lets out a breath that Jisung didn't realize he was holding, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. A small smile spreads across his face again. "Okay. Thank you. Give me a couple of minutes, okay? Put your stuff away and wait here." 

Before he can answer, Minho's turned around and started jogging back through the bookshelves towards the front of the library. Jisung just stares after him, feeling confused. 

He does as he's told though, putting his things back in his bag and then sitting there waiting. Minho appears again five minutes later, his black athletic jacket pulled on over his nice white button-up as he strides towards Jisung. 

Without warning, Minho reaches out and takes Jisung's hand in his, yanking him up out of his seat. 

"Hey!" Jisung exclaims, and Minho just hums in acknowledgement as he adjusts his grip on Jisung, the hand on his getting a firmer hold on him. 

"Trust me," Minho reminds him as he starts to pull Jisung by the hand through the shelves of the library and out towards the main area. He swears he can feel eyes on them as they come walking out of the stacks holding hands, but his paranoia seems to be getting the best of him because the few people still here don't seem interested in them at all. 

Jisung takes a shaky breath and surrenders himself to Minho, letting himself be pulled towards the exit. 

He trusts Minho. 

By the way they're walking, Jisung expects Minho to take him to his car. And they do pass the car-- keyword pass, much to Jisung's confusion. 

"Your car's right there," Jisung says, pointing to it with the hand Minho isn't holding. 

"I know where my car is," Minho replies, but there's no bite to it. He seems… very gentle now, Jisung realizes. Like he's trying to iron out the snark he usually wears to calm Jisung's nerves. It's funny, because Minho's snark has never bothered Jisung. Still, he appreciates what Minho seems to be trying to do. "It's not far enough to use my car. Come on, it's literally just across the street from here." 

"The only thing across from the parking lot is the convenience store," Jisung says, perplexed. 

"Exactly." And with that, Minho pulls him across the street towards the glowing storefront. 

The air inside is warm as Minho props open the door and leads Jisung inside. It's all very familiar to him here. Before he met Minho, this was mostly where he came to spend the allowance his parents sent him on food since it's cheap. 

What he doesn't understand is why Minho brought him here. 

"Minho?" He says the boy's name slowly, looking over at him. 

"Pick out whatever you want," Minho tells him, turning to him with a smile. "Just tell me what it is and I'll get it for you." 

Jisung stares at him. "What?" 

"I said you can pick whatever you want and I'll pay," Minho repeats, and gives Jisung a gentle tug so they aren't just standing in the doorway anymore. 

"Are you… trying to cheer me up by buying me food?" Jisung asks slowly. 

"Yes," Minho answers. Simple. "You like food. Food makes you happy. If you're sad, I figured food would be the best thing to try to cheer you up with." 

"I had some ramen at the dorm I was just going to eat tonight," he admits slowly, although he feels guilty saying it after Minho walked him all the way over here. 

Minho hums thoughtfully at that, then says, "That's okay. Just pick out a snack or a drink or something you want then." 

"If you're really okay with it," Jisung says carefully, looking across the aisles. 

"Of course I am," Minho reassures. When he catches Jisung looking at the aisle where the chocolate is, he can't help but crack a smile. "Do you want chocolate?" 

"Kind of," he admits. 

"That's good, you like chocolate," Minho says, almost more to himself than Jisung. He glances at Minho, looking him over. The older boy seems thoughtful, and Jisung realizes that he's really trying to think of how to make him feel better. 

That in itself makes him feel better, honestly, and for the first time since he got his exam results back today he smiles faintly. 

Minho seems to notice, because the smile Minho gives him in return is positively _radiant_. 

He ends up picking out a simple chocolate bar, nothing fancy. Minho gets the same thing, commenting that he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth but when he's with Jisung it's like his is infectious. When he presses Jisung to pick out something to drink too, he plucks a peach soda from the coolers and Minho pulls out an iced coffee drink. 

Minho fumbles out his wallet at the register and pays for it all, just like he said, and soon the two of them are walking back across the street towards Minho parked car. 

Halfway there, Jisung realizes two things. 

The first thing Jisung realizes is that his head doesn't feel quite as heavy anymore, that there isn't as much pressure in his chest. It's funny how Minho's presence does that to him. 

The second thing that Jisung realizes is that at some point, his and Minho's fingers have twined loosely together. He doesn't remember when that happened, only that Minho's fingers are definitely slotted between his and that it feels natural, like their hands were meant to fit together like this. What's more is he doesn't _think_ he'd be bold enough to thread their fingers together, even without realizing it, so that just leaves him thinking about Minho doing it. 

His thoughts of holding hands are scattered quickly enough as they reach Minho's car though, as he finally has to let go of Minho's hand to get in on the passenger side. He climbs in with a sigh, and when the door closes he leans all the way back in his seat and closes his eyes. 

Minho's car, dinky little thing that it is, feels almost like a second home now after all the times they've gone out in it to the cafe in the past few weeks. 

The rustling of Minho going through the store bag makes him open his eyes again, turning his head to watch Minho pull out their drinks and set them in the cup holders before pulling out their chocolate bars, holding one out to Jisung. He takes it. 

"Thank you," Jisung says, and he only partially means it about the chocolate. 

"You're welcome," Minho says, and he thinks Minho understand what he means, because Minho always seems to understand him. 

They eat in silence, but it's not the uncomfortable kind. He feels safe here, like he left all his worries outside this car. Like they can't hurt him in here with Minho. 

"You already ate yours?" Minho says a few minutes later, breaking the silence. It's less a question and more a baffled observation. 

"It was good," Jisung protests, folding up the wrapper and tucking it into the store bag so he doesn't just leave it loose in Minho's car. 

Minho breaks off a piece of his own chocolate bar and looks down at the little square like he's analyzing it. Jisung doesn't know what for, chocolate is chocolate and this chocolate is good. If anything he's surprised Minho hasn't finished his already yet. Then Minho turns to Jisung and asks, "Do you want some of mine?" 

He blinks. "I had mine already, Minho." 

"You said it was good," Minho presses. 

"Yeah. It's chocolate. Of course it is. I love chocolate. But I had mine and that's yours." 

"I'm offering it, Jisung. I don't think I can finish it right now anyways and I'll probably just forget about it if I leave it. Do you want it?" 

Jisung has a sneaking suspicion that Minho wouldn't actually not be able to finish it, that he just knows Jisung likes chocolate and is trying to make him feel better by giving him some of his. Still, he'll play along if it makes him feel better. Honestly, just being with Minho was enough to cheer him up some, he doesn't have to do this. But he does, so Jisung humors him. "I mean, I guess? If you're sure." 

"I'm sure," Minho says, and then proceeds to do something that Jisung couldn't have predicted in the slightest. 

Minho reaches up and presses the square of chocolate against Jisung's lips. Not hard, but softly. Like he's asking permission. Jisung stares at him, sure his pupils are blown wide with shock. 

After a moment, he opens his mouth and lets Minho feed him the little square. He feels unbelievably hot, sure that he's an awful shade of red. Minho, for his part, looks positively too delighted for his own good, a goofy grin spreading across his face. 

"Ah, cute," Minho says, and Jisung didn't think it was possible for his face to get hotter but it _definitely_ does at that. 

He swallows the chocolate, staring at Minho. "W-what was that?" 

Minho looks downright mischievous now. "Honestly, I just wanted to see if you'd actually let me." 

"Why?" 

"Because you're cute when you're flustered," Minho says simply, and Jisung feels mortified. 

Like most things with Minho, him being embarrassed doesn't seem to last long. Minho teases him to get reactions out of him of course, and boy does he get them, but Minho just naturally puts Jisung at ease. It's hard to forget Minho's fingers on his lips feeding him chocolate, but when Minho starts talking casually to him about his day, he finds it hard not to relax instantly. 

Minho's voice is nice. He talks about silly things, like the guy in his dance class this morning who ripped his pants. That makes Jisung laugh and the sound makes Minho light up. Minho being happy makes Jisung happy, and seeing Jisung happy makes Minho happy. It's like they're a loop of emotions, projecting onto each other and strengthening everything each other feels. 

He's not quite sure how long he sits in the car with Minho. He mostly just listens to him talk, which is such a strange reversal of how they usually are with each other. But it's nice. Minho doesn't seem to mind talking to him even if he doesn't really respond as much as he usually would and Jisung likes hearing Minho talk. 

Eventually though, after the sun has set and the moon's taken its place in the night sky, Jisung takes it as his sign to start heading back. He says his goodbyes to Minho, slowly getting out of the car. 

Before he's out all the way, Minho grabs his hand. He blinks in surprise, turning to look at the other boy. A strange expression clouds his face, one that Jisung can't exactly read. Slowly, Jisung feels Minho twine their fingers together and squeeze. 

Ah. So that answers his earlier question. 

"Minho?" Jisung says, his voice quiet. 

"If you ever need someone to vent to or someone to distract you, just come to me, okay?" Minho says, and his voice is so serious that it makes Jisung's head spin. He isn't used to that coming from Minho, not when the other boy seems so allergic to being serious half the time. But whatever his aversion to it, it seems like he's made the choice to put himself out there to Jisung. 

It makes his heart warm. 

"Thank you," is what he manages to get out, and he squeezes Minho's hand back. 

They hold each other there for a moment, just looking at each other like neither of them want to let go-- of this moment, of each other. But he has to go home, as much as he'd love to spend the rest of the night out here with Minho, and Minho has to go home too. And they both know that. So they slowly untangle themselves from each other, Minho's fingertips lingering across Jisung's for just a moment before he pulls his hand back. 

Jisung can't help but keep looking back at the parking lot as he walks down the sidewalk in the direction of his dorm, each time finding Minho's car still just sitting there, the older boy watching him go, like he's making sure he's getting home safe as far as he can see from where his car is parked. 

 

\---

 

Felix is fast asleep by the time he gets back to the dorm, which isn't exactly surprising. Once his roommate lays down somewhere, he's out almost instantly. It doesn't help that he stayed out with Minho for-- he checks his phone and _fuck_ , he sat out there with Minho for over four hours. It didn't feel that long, not even close. 

Time runs funny when he's with Minho though, simultaneously moving too fast but also feeling like every moment with him lasts an eternity. 

He gets ready for bed, suddenly feeling ready to just curl up and sleep forever. As soon as he climbs in, his phone lights up with a new message. 

 

**[Minho]  
you made it home okay, right?**

 

He can't help but smile at the screen. 

 

**[Jisung]  
yeah!!! don't worry!!!!**

**[Minho]**  
**that's good**  
**hey**

**[Jisung]**  
**what?**

**[Minho]**  
**i just wanted to say that i really hope you feel better**  
**you're a really bright person and seeing you upset sucked**

**[Jisung]**  
**ah sorry**  
**i didn't mean to upset you i just get like this sometimes**

**[Minho]**  
**don't apologize it's not your fault**

**[Jisung]**  
**okay**  
**i'm sorry**

 

He winces as soon as he sends it. He knows he just apologized for apologizing, but it's an instinct. 

Minho doesn't bother him about it though, and he's grateful. 

 

**[Minho]**  
**anyways like i said i hope you're back to your normal bright self soon**

**[Jisung]**  
**you said i'm bright again**  
**what does that mean**

**[Minho]**  
**oh i don't know it's just**  
**some people are really bright? like the sun**  
**and when they light up it makes everybody around them light up too**  
**that's what you're like**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh**  
**wow uh**  
**that's me?**

**[Minho]**  
**yeah, that's you.**

**[Jisung]**  
**that's……. genuinely one of the nicest things anybody's said about me**  
**that's**  
**really sweet minho**

**[Minho]**  
**i know**  
**i AM pretty sweet!**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh! hmm!**  
**i think you just ruined the moment actually!**  
**i don't think you can just say that!**

**[Minho]**  
**well i just did!**

**[Jisung]**  
**:/**

**[Minho]**  
**:)**  
**anyways jokes aside it's been fun having you around the library**  
**to go over and talk to when i'm free**  
**because you really do just make everybody around you happier**  
**including me**

**[Jisung]**  
**really?**

**[Minho]**  
**no, i'm lying to your face right now**  
**yes of course you're fun to be around you idiot**  
**that's why i spend so much time with you**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh wow so i'm an idiot now? :(**

**[Minho]**  
**you're always an idiot**

**[Jisung]**  
**WOW**

**[Minho]**  
**HOLD ON**  
**you're an idiot but i don't mean it in a bad way**

**[Jisung]**  
**minho idiot is an inherently bad word i'm**

**[Minho]**  
**okay then i don't mean idiot**

**[Jisung]**  
**THEN WHAT DO YOU MEAN**

**[Minho]**  
**I DON'T KNOW**  
**look i just**  
**you're really easy to be around and you're funny**  
**and you make me laugh a lot**  
**and it just feels like we get along really well**  
**which is funny because we've only known each other for a short time**  
**and you're really sweet**  
**but you're also like? kind of dumb sometimes?**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh my god**

**[Minho]**  
**leave me alone i'm not good at being serious**

**[Jisung]**  
**OBVIOUSLY**

**[Minho]**  
**but i don't know**  
**like i said i feel like we match really well together**  
**even if it hasn't been too long**  
**i really like spending time with you**  
**and most importantly i like you, sungie**

 

Jisung presses his phone against his mouth, trying to hide the dumb smile creeping across his lips. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**sungie?**

**[Minho]**  
**yeah**  
**i think it's cute**  
**can i call you that?**

**[Jisung]**  
**if you want to**

**[Minho]**  
**i do**

**[Jisung]**  
**hey so like**  
**you really don't think i'm an annoyance or anything?**

**[Minho]**  
**?**  
**jisung why would i think that**

**[Jisung]**  
**because i literally latched onto you like a leech at the library**  
**and haven't stopped bothering you since**

 

A minute goes by. Minho doesn't respond. Jisung lets out a shaky sigh. 

"Idiot," he murmurs to himself. He probably just weirded Minho out and that's why he didn't reply. All his other texts had been instant, and now… nothing. 

He's about to start typing an apology for making things weird when a new message from Minho pops up. 

 

**[Minho]**  
**god you are so dense**

**[Jisung]**  
**hey :/**

**[Minho]**  
**try not being dense then :/**

**[Jisung]**  
**:/**

**[Minho]**  
**jisung you're not an annoyance and you're not a bother**  
**and you're definitely not a leech**  
**did you completely read over the poorly written serious texts**  
**about how i like spending time with you?**

**[Jisung]**  
**idk i just wanna make sure ig**

**[Minho]**  
**you haven't bothered me and you never will bother me**

**[Jisung]**  
**you don't know that**

**[Minho]**  
**god you're so**  
**okay hold on i'm calling you**

**[Jisung]**  
**wait what**

 

A second later his phone is ringing, and despite the warning it still startles Jisung enough that he flinches, his phone slipping out from between his fingers and landing on his face with a loud slap and a shriek of pain. Panicked, he glances across the room to make sure he didn't wake Felix. He doesn't know why he bothers, it'd take a damn bomb or the specific alarm he's conditioned himself to react to to wake him up. 

Holding his face where it fell on him, he accepts the call. 

"You just made me drop my phone on my face," he accuses, voice hushed even if he knows Felix won't be waking up no matter how loud he talks, bless him. 

"Why did you-- never mind." 

"The call startled me!" 

"Everything startles you." 

"Why are you so mean to me today," he whines. 

"I'm not being mean! I'm just stating a fact." 

"But you don't have to say it! First you call me an idiot, then dense, now you make fun of me for how jumpy I am!" 

"I'd never make fun of you for that!" Minho interjects, a touch of seriousness in his voice that makes Jisung pause. 

"You wouldn't?" Jisung repeats slowly. 

"No," Minho says instantly. "You are jumpy but I'm not going to tease you about it. That's just how you are. It's not your fault. Besides, I think it's kind of endearing-- when it's not inconveniencing you, I mean." 

"Oh," Jisung says, blinking. "Well… thank you?" 

"You're welcome," Minho says. "See? I can be nice. I can say nice things." 

Jisung snorts. "I think you saying you can be nice kind of lessens the impact." 

"It doesn't." 

"Mmm, yeah, it kind of does." Jisung rolls his eyes. "Anyways, why did you call me?" 

"Oh!" Minho sounds like he completely forgot why he called in the first place and just remembered. "Okay, I needed to say a couple of things and I think it would be easier to say over a call instead of just texting. I think you'd listen to me better too." 

Jisung raises an eyebrow. "What's that?" 

"Well, starting off, you used a totally incorrect comparison. You're not a leech. You're like a duckling that imprinted on someone and won't stop following them around." 

"Oh my god." 

"I mean it in a good way! It's cute, little, and yellow! Just like you!" 

"I'm little?" Jisung repeats, voice strained. 

"You can't argue with me on that! You are! You're very tiny!" 

"But you don't have to point out how short I am for no reason!" 

"Well, now I just feel like you're annoyed at me for the sake of being annoyed at me," Minho complains. 

"Say nice things instead," Jisung counters to be difficult, turning on his side. 

"You want me to say nice things? Okay." Minho takes a breath. "I meant what I said earlier. I think you're funny and nice and I like spending time with you. You've never bothered me by coming to spend time with me once. In fact, seeing you is sometimes the highlight of my day. I've only known you for a short time but I've never met anybody who's made me laugh as hard as you do-- or anybody who's made me smile so much, for that matter. You work so hard and I really admire that, and even though you're hard on yourself I want you to know that I see how much effort you put into improving and I think that's really admirable." 

Silence falls over the call, and Jisung is suddenly glad he's laying down because otherwise he thinks his knees would've given out from under him. 

He opens his mouth to say something back but finds no sound, just staring at the wall in front of him with wide eyes as his brain frantically tries to get the gears moving again. 

"Jisung?" Minho's voice says after a moment. 

"I was joking about you needing to say something nice," Jisung finally manages to say weakly. 

Minho laughs, sounding relieved. "Oh, good. I thought you passed out or something." 

"You're not that charming," Jisung mumbles, curling in on himself a bit. 

Yes, he is. 

"Sungie," Minho says, and Jisung reaches up to put a hand over his own mouth to stop himself from making any noises. God, he's already committed to that nickname huh? He thought it made his heart twist seeing Minho type it, but actually hearing it in Minho's soft voice makes it feel like his head's in the clouds. 

The most Jisung manages to get out in response to the nickname is a strained, "Mm?" 

"You should go to sleep. It's late." 

"Says you. You're awake too," Jisung points out, and when he pulls his phone back to glance at the clock he huffs. It's almost ten. Maybe that wouldn't be late for him on another day, but tonight it definitely is. Minho's right. 

"I don't have any morning classes tomorrow. You do, if I remember right." 

"I have my art history class," he admits, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He didn't think Minho would remember him talking about his classes, it's usually just a lot about him complaining. 

"See?" Minho says with a laugh. "So my excuse for staying up is I don't have anything in the morning. What's yours?" 

"I… don't have one," Jisung says slowly. 

He hears Minho hum thoughtfully. Then he says, "So you're throwing away time you could be spending sleeping just to talk to me?" 

Jisung inhales sharply. That's exactly what he's doing. Instead, he replies, "No. I had a book I was reading." 

"Oh, so you stopped reading to talk to me? Because we were texting for a while. That's cute. You really dropped everything for your local cute librarian, huh?" Minho's voice drips with exaggerated ego, and Jisung hates him. 

(He doesn't. God, he doesn't. It's the exact opposite.) 

"Oh my god, shut up," Jisung blurts out, which makes Minho laugh again. 

"I'm flattered! I really am! But I can't have you wasting sleep on me! So I think I'll have to cut you loose for tonight." 

"Such a gentleman," Jisung snarks back, earning a giggle-- a _giggle_ \-- from Minho. He can't help the smile that spreads across his face when he hears it. Minho's giggle is so silly and cute, it's so different from the laid-back, cool persona he tries to portray most of the time. It brushes aside all his humor and sass and ego and gets right to the heart of Minho: that he's a giant dork. 

He's a giant dork and Jisung likes him so much that it feels like his head is spinning. 

"Only the best for you," Minho teases, and Jisung _knows_ he's being silly but that doesn't stop the butterflies in his stomach. 

He is so grateful for Minho, and maybe it's just how tired he is from today's emotions but suddenly he's feeling very emotional and he feels like he needs to express that to him. 

"Minho," he says, voice suddenly getting very small. "Thanks for cheering me up today." 

There's a pause on the other end of the line. Then Minho says, "You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad the chocolate did its job." 

Jisung shifts, rolling over in bed so he's curled in on himself, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Quietly, he admits, "It wasn't the chocolate that made me feel better, Minho." 

"Oh," Minho says. Another moment passes. "I'm glad I could help even a little bit, then." 

"You helped more than just a little," Jisung tells him, playing with the edge of his pillowcase. 

"I still think it was mostly the chocolate that did it." Minho's voice is light, and Jisung wonders if Minho's always like this when it comes to serious expressions of appreciation, of serious things in general. Deflecting with humor. 

"You're much better than chocolate," Jisung says before he can stop himself. He winces at his own words, curling further in on himself. Just what does that mean, exactly? 

He hears the noises of Minho shifting on the other end, and Jisung wonders by the rustling if Minho's laying in bed like he is. "Well, you must like me a lot then, huh?" 

His tone is still light, but Jisung's gotten good enough at reading Minho to catch the little hint of shyness to his voice. He really doesn't know how to take serious appreciation then. 

"Of course I do," Jisung says, and Minho doesn't know how much he means that, but he hopes he at least understands how deeply genuine he is. Confusing feelings aside, he really does like Minho a lot. He's his friend, and not just any friend but a close one at that. 

"Well good. Because I like you a lot too." And there's a certain vulnerability to Minho's voice that catches him off-guard, like Minho's putting himself out there when he's not used to it. 

"I'm glad," Jisung says softly, failing to stifle a yawn. 

Just as quickly as it came, the vulnerability in Minho's voice is gone, replaced by a warm chuckle. "You're falling asleep huh?" 

"Maybe." He definitely is. All his nerves are gone, at least for now, and the weight of today mixed with Minho's calming presence has made him very sleepy. 

"Okay. I'm going to let you sleep then. Good night, Sungie. Sweet dreams." 

"Good night, Minho. Thank you for being you," he manages, his eyelids fluttering, very heavy. 

He's so far gone he doesn't even notice the sharp inhale from the other boy. Then, Minho's soft voice says, "I'm glad I met you." 

He barely registers it as Minho ends the call, already nodding off. 

He falls asleep remembering the way Minho pressed chocolate to his lips. 

 

\---

 

It's not like everything goes back to sunshine and rainbows after that, but they definitely get better. 

Seungmin's the one who actually steps in to help him. He offers to help him figure out a way to take notes that will work for him and Jisung nearly cries right then and there, much to Seungmin's mild horror. 

Needless to say, Jisung's all too happy to let Seungmin accompany him to the library on the mission of helping him actually learn how to study. It also provides an opportunity to reintroduce Seungmin and Minho, hopefully with a better result. So really, just a win across the board for Jisung. 

The librarian in question is working the front desk when they come in, his eyes lighting up when they land of Jisung. He waves the two of them over, an easy smile on his face. 

"I see you brought a study buddy today," Minho observes, nodding at Seungmin. 

"He's my emotional support and also here to actually teach me how to study," Jisung explains. 

"Basically I'm his whole brain," Seungmin says, leaning over to bump his shoulder against Jisung's. 

"I have a brain," he says defensively, sticking his bottom lip out at the taller boy. 

"You do," Seungmin agrees. "I'm here to remind you how to use it." 

"Oh," Minho says, pointing at Seungmin, "I like him." 

"I already don't like you two together," Jisung complains, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. 

Seungmin just smiles, shooting a funny smile between the two of them before settling on Minho. "I'm Seungmin, by the way. I don't remember if it came up the first time we met." 

"Oh, I don't really remember either. Jisung's mentioned you though," Minho says. 

"Sorry about that, for the record. My boyfriend can be a little… slow to pick up on when he's interrupting something," Seungmin explains. 

Minho blinks at him. "What? Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it, I barely remember what happened." Jisung can't help but roll his eyes at that. Minho definitely remembers based on how annoyed he was at the time, but oh well, it's not like Jisung's gonna out him for it. "I was in the middle of leaving anyways." 

"Still, it's not a good first impression and I apologize." Seungmin bows his head apologetically. 

Minho just laughs. "You don't have to be so polite, it's really okay. If it makes you feel better we can think of this as a do-over." 

Seungmin immediately perks up. "That sounds awfully agreeable to me." 

Minho grins, holding out a hand to Seungmin. "Well, nice to meet you, friend of Jisung who I have definitely not met before. My name's Lee Minho." 

"Kim Seungmin," Seungmin replies, taking Minho's hand. 

Well, thank god, Jisung thinks. 

Seungmin, as it turns out, is a genius. 

That's not related to the Minho thing, although maybe it is because Jisung thinks it's kind of amazing how well the two of them get along now that they've met again. When Minho comes over to check on them once he's off desk duty, him and Seungmin chat a lot back and forth, to the point where Jisung isn't even the one talking, just listening to them. They're kind of the same, he realizes. Both of them tend to be listeners, observers. They chime in with their own thoughts based on what people more talkative than them say. 

But regardless, not everything's about Minho-- as much as his friends tease him about it being exactly that. No, Jisung decides Seungmin's a genius for a completely different reason. 

Namely, Seungmin is able to come up with about six different styles of note taking that Jisung has never tried before. If that wasn't amazing enough, he then asks Jisung to go through them all and then rattle off what information he can remember. He does it twice, different notes in each style. 

To Seungmin's utter delight, Jisung is able to remember a lot from one style of notes both times. 

Thus begins the long journey of transferring all of Jisung's current notes into that style, a journey made more enjoyable by the pleasant hum of Minho and Seungmin talking while he works. 

"Hey Minho, do you think you could grab me this book?" Seungmin asks after a bit, turning his phone screen around and pointing at a title and author. 

"You have two legs, get it yourself," Minho says, perched on the arm of Jisung's chair. 

"It's for Jisung," Seungmin says, and at that Jisung looks up from his notes, blinking in confusion. 

"Jisung has two legs," Minho says, but his voice doesn't have the same bite. When Jisung turns his head to look up at him with wide, confused eyes, Minho's expression softens. Then he lets out a sigh. "And they will be staying planted right where they are while he works on his notes. Hold on." 

And with that, Minho pushes up off of the arm of Jisung's chair and gets to his feet before reaching out for Seungmin's phone to get another look at the book. Then he's off, presumably to hunt it down for them. 

When he's out of sight, Jisung turns to Seungmin with a frown. "I need a book? I didn't know I need a book. I thought I was just revising my notes today while you helped." 

"You don't need a book, but if Minho asks it's extra reading," Seungmin tells him, smirking. 

Jisung tilts his head. "I'm lost." 

Seungmin laughs. "Don't worry about it. I was just proving a point." 

"What point?" Jisung asks slowly. 

"That Minho would do anything for you," Seungmin says simply, and Jisung chokes. It only makes Seungmin look more smug. 

"It's just a book," he says, shaking his head. "It's not a big deal." 

"Yeah, but he essentially told me to go fuck myself when he thought I was asking him to get it for me," Seungmin points out. "But the _second_ he thought it was for you and you turned your puppy dog eyes on him, he was practically jumping up to go get it for you." 

"I-- I didn't give him puppy dog eyes!" Jisung sputters, sitting up straight in his chair as he feels his cheeks warm. 

"Oh, I hope you know that the fact that you don't even realize you're giving him them makes this a hundred times funnier," Seungmin says with a smile. 

"Why is it funny?" Jisung counters, and Seungmin just grins back at him. 

"Because you're so gone for him that you don't even realize how obvious it is just by looking at you." 

"Stop," Jisung says, meaning to sound firm. Instead, it comes out as a whine. 

"Whatever," Seungmin says. "It doesn't matter if you can't accept it, what matters is the rest of us all know and will absolutely not let you forget about it." 

Jisung scowls at him. "You're so mean, Seungmin." 

Seungmin just leans back in his chair with a little shrug. "I'm not mean, I'm just right." 

"You're in luck," Minho says before Jisung can argue any further, and the two of them turn to watch as he emerges from the shelves holding a gray book with silver lettering on the spine. "There was still one copy left." 

"That was fast," Seungmin notes, voice airy. "What did you do, run to get it?" 

Minho gives Seungmin a dirty look as he comes up in front of their chairs. "No, I just put this one away yesterday and remembered where it goes." 

Seungmin hums innocently in response. 

With that, Minho turns to Jisung. "Here." 

He holds the book out to him. For a moment, Jisung just stares at it, then at Seungmin who simply shrugs. So Jisung reaches out to take it, only for Minho's other hand to come up and gently hold to bottom of Jisung's as he places to book in his hand. With a start, Jisung feels the familiar shape of chocolate kisses falling into his palm under the book, hidden from Seungmin. His lips part in a little O and his reaction makes Minho smile. 

"Thanks," Jisung says, looking up at him as a smile of his own spreads across his face. 

"Don't get used to it," Minho tells him, which he knows is Minho for _you're welcome_. "Unfortunately I don't have the time to hang out with you losers any more than I already have. Don't destroy my library while I'm gone or anything." 

"No promises." Jisung puts the book down on the table in front of him, moving his hands to his lap where he can hold the chocolate kisses in both his hands. 

"You're paying for any property damage then," Minho says. 

"On second thought I'll be good," Jisung relents. 

"That's what I thought." And with that, Minho gives them a tiny salute before turning and walking back through the shelves. 

"What did he do?" Seungmin asks after Minho's gone, leaning his cheek against his hand. 

Jisung blinks. "Who said he did anything?" 

"The goofy grin on your face." 

"It's not goofy," Jisung says defensively. 

Seungmin raises an eyebrow. "It is. It really is." 

After a moment of just staring each other down, Jisung gives in, putting the kisses on the table. "Fine. He gave me chocolate." 

Seungmin just rolls his eyes. "Of course he did." 

"What does that mean?" 

"He has a literal sweet spot for you," Seungmin says. 

"It's not like that," Jisung says, prodding one of the chocolates with his finger. 

"I think it is," Seungmin counters. "Jisung, I genuinely think he likes you too." 

"But you don't know," Jisung says, frowning down at the table. "And if you don't know for sure then it doesn't matter. I don't wanna fuck things up." 

"You're probably not going to know for sure," Seungmin points out. "People rarely come out and tell their crush they like them like that, not unless they're actually asking them out. You have to pick up on the little things they do that tell you they like you, and I just hung out with you guys for an extremely short time and it feels like I just saw a lot of little things from Minho." 

"Seungmin," Jisung warns, "please don't get my hopes up. I don't want to start thinking about that, because if you're wrong then I'll just be…" 

Destroyed. Miserable. Horrifically awkward around Minho for the rest of the time they know each other. 

"I'll be upset," Jisung finally decides. "So I don't wanna think about it or speculate. I just want to be happy with the relationship I have with Minho now and focus on that." 

Seungmin puts up his hands in the universal gesture of giving up. "Alright. I won't push it. But you know where I stand now." Then he lowers his hands and puts them on the table. "I also need you to know that I tease, but no matter what you decide to do I'm going to have your back." 

Jisung sighs, picking up one of the chocolates and unwrapping it. "I know. Thank you." 

"Should we get back to figuring out how to work out your notes in a way that helps you?" Seungmin asks, tapping Jisung's notebook where it sits between them. 

Jisung pops that chocolate into his mouth. "Might as well." 

When they eventually go back to the dorm later, Felix complains to them about how Seungmin got to know Jisung's crush better than his own roommate. Seungmin, for his part, just reminds Felix that he'd just distract Jisung at the library, which all three of them know to be true. It's not a secret how badly the two of them enable each other's worse distracting habits. Still, Felix pouts. 

Jisung promises that if he can find a way to let Felix get to know Minho better he will, which at least makes Felix cheer up a bit. 

 

\---

 

The first time Minho does it after the incident in the car, it happens in the library with Minho sitting on the arm of Jisung's chair watching him go through his notes like Seungmin taught him. One minute Jisung's rereading a section of the early stages of music production, the next there's a chocolate kiss hovering in front of his lips. 

When he turns to look up at Minho, the librarian is grinning at him like a shithead. He's teasing him, Jisung realizes. 

Well that's fine, he decides, because he can be a shithead too. 

And with that thought, Jisung leans forward and takes the chocolate in Minho's hand between his teeth and pulls it loose from his fingers, staring up at the other boy. 

The look on Minho's face is priceless; a cocktail of shock, confusion, pride, and a little something else he can't quite place. 

 

\---

 

The second time Minho does it, they're sitting in the car again, fresh from a run to the store. 

They're sitting in comfortable silence listening to the radio play cheesy bubblegum pop when suddenly there's a piece of chocolate being held in front of him, a broken bit from the kind Minho's been eating. 

He turns to look at his friend and is surprised to find that his expression isn't mischievous at all. Instead he wears a small, amused smile. Like it's an inside joke. 

So Jisung plays his part takes the chocolate from Minho with his mouth. 

 

\---

 

The third time Minho does it, he doesn't even think Minho thinks about it, nor does he seem to do it for any particular reason. He's reading a chapter of the book he was assigned for class and suddenly Minho's holding a kiss in front of his lips, his expression neutral as he reads over Jisung's shoulder. 

And Jisung doesn't think about it either, because he naturally leans forward to meet Minho's fingers and lets him feed him the chocolate. 

Jisung doesn't keep track of them after that. There's no point, not when it happens so often and so casually that it's downright mundane to him. 

 

\---

 

"Have you at least considered asking him out?" Hyunjin asks one day, the four of them sitting on the floor of his and Seungmin's room playing a game of Monopoly. 

(He's not sure why they all settled on Monopoly, they all know it'll end in someone getting mad and _probably_ Seungmin and Felix almost breaking up, but hey, they're stupid and it's fun at first. At first.) 

"Really?" Jisung says with a sigh. "You're really asking now?" 

"It's not like you have anything else to do, you suck at this," Seungmin says. To no surprise, Seungmin's currently winning. 

"I just have awful luck," Jisung complains. 

"I wanna know what Hyunjin wants to know," Felix chimes in, and Jisung turns to look at his roommate with a scowl. 

"It's been months, Jisung," Seungmin says. "You're so far past the point of just thinking Minho's cute. You obviously have a thing for him and it's not going away any time soon." 

"Okay, but that doesn't mean I have to act on it." Jisung watches as Seungmin picks up another property, making the three of them groan while Seungmin just grins. 

"I think you should," Hyunjin tells him, turning to the side and stretching his long legs out. "You like him a lot, Jisung. It would be good for you to get it out of your system. I'm sure it must be bothering you keeping that to yourself." 

"It isn't," Jisung says. "I'm fine, really. I just care about us being friends. Anything else is just… sure, it would be nice. That doesn't mean it'd be realistic. I don't wanna risk making things weird if he says no." 

"You think too much," Seungmin says with a sigh. "Which is funny, because usually you don't think _enough_." 

"Which should tell you how important this is to me," Jisung says pointedly. 

"I'm okay with whatever you do as long as it makes you happy," Felix tells him. 

Jisung shoots him a thumbs up. "Thanks, man. I knew you were the one who'd get it." 

"But," Felix drawls, which makes Jisung scowl again, "if there's a chance you could be happy _with_ the boy of your dreams, maybe you should take that chance." 

"You're all hopeless romantics," Jisung grumbles, and Hyunjin taps his shoulder to let him know it's his turn. 

"That's rich coming from you," Seungmin says with a snort. 

"What does that mean?" Jisung asks, squinting at him. 

"Nothing, just do your turn," he says innocently. 

Jisung shakes his head, rolling the dice that Hyunjin hands him. He immediately drops his face into his hands. 

"Go to jail," Felix sings. 

"This game sucks," he complains. 

 

\---

 

So, the thing that sucks the most about his friends? Sometimes they're right. 

Jisung does like Minho. He thinks he's hot, sure, but he's way past the point of just thinking Minho's kind of attractive. He has… _feelings_. And while he's not really ready to completely unpack how deep those feelings are, he's at the point where he has to acknowledge it. 

Jisung likes Minho. In fact, he has a crush on him. A bad one. 

This isn't news to anybody, least of all Jisung himself, but directly acknowledging it still makes his heart hurt. 

And maybe, just maybe, his friends were right that it sucks keeping that to himself. Sometimes Minho will be laughing at something he said, or he'll have just cracked a dumb joke of his own, or he'll have touched Jisung's hand or shoulder, or he'll have fed him a piece of chocolate, or sometimes he'll just be sitting there looking so _likeable_ that it takes everything in Jisung's power not to blurt out how he feels right then and there. 

His anxiety saves his stupid ass from doing just that, and for once he's kind of grateful for it. 

But still, the more time passes, the more he finds himself fantasizing about the ways he could just… tell Minho. How he could blurt it out, or maybe actually plan something. Something grand. He's always been a go big or go home kind of person, maybe Minho would like that. 

He even looks up a place for a first date, which is the furthest he gets as far as fantasies go. The worst part is for a moment, a brief moment, he genuinely considers asking Minho out. 

He doesn't, of course. He's a coward. But for one moment, the thought of asking Minho out and him agreeing fills Jisung with so much happiness that he's nearly overwhelmed. 

But the thing is, Jisung knows his idea for a first date would make Minho happy, even if it's not sold to him as a date. He knows because he _knows_ Minho, and he's too scared to ask him out, but why can't he at least make the most of something that would make his friend happy? 

So that's how he ends up bringing it up to Minho one day, the two of them in their own little corner of the library like they usually are. 

"Hey," Jisung says, trying to grab Minho's attention from where he sits in the other chair reading. He's been trying his best not to stare for the past couple of minutes as he got up the courage to ask-- trying being the keyword. Trying and failing. Minho, for his part, either didn't notice or graciously chose not to mention it. 

Minho hums, glancing up at Jisung to let him know he has his attention. 

Jisung swallows. "Would you wanna maybe do something soon? On me? Not-- not tonight, I know it's really last minute and we were just going to go up to the convenience store after your shift, but…" 

Minho blinks rapidly, the way he always does when he's thinking. "On you?" he repeats. 

"I kinda wanna pay you back for all the times you've bought me hot chocolate and coffee cake, oh and all the snacks from the convenience stores, and… well," he laughs, "I guess I just have a lot I need to pay you back for." 

The older boy frowns at him. "Why do you need to pay me back?" 

Jisung tilts his head slightly to one side. "Because you're spending all this money on me and it doesn't seem fair? And I'm, like, kind of broke right now so I can't just straight up pay you back all at once so I might as well do the classic broke college friend thing of just buying each other food to make it up to you." 

Minho huffs out a little chuckle at that, a funny little smirk spreading across his face. "You idiot." 

"Hey! Why am I an idiot?" Jisung pouts, jutting out his bottom lip. Minho's eyes graze over it, stopping there for a second before returning to meet his eyes. 

"I don't care if you pay me back, dummy. I just like buying you things." Minho shakes his head. 

"I mean, that's nice," Jisung says. It's really nice, actually. Every time Minho buys him things, even just something as silly as that chocolate bar the other day, he feels something warm stir in his stomach. "But I still want to pay you back! It just doesn't seem fair for you to be the only one buying things." 

"I'm the one with the job," Minho points out. 

"Yeah, well," Jisung starts, but stops when he realizes he doesn't have a good comeback. Fuck. Flustered, he continues, "Well, I just would feel better, okay? Isn't that enough?" 

The other boy stares at him. He stares long enough that Jisung starts to feel a bit antsy. Minho's eyes have always been something a little unnerving, in a completely breathtaking way, but recently he's started to get used to them being trained on him. But now, paired with Minho's complete silence as he studies Jisung's face, he can't help but be reminded of just how intense his gaze can be sometimes. 

Then an easy smile slides across his face, a relaxed, cocky one that Jisung knows well by this point but still manages to stir something in his chest. "Alright. But you know I've treated you a lot, just like you said. That means you have a lot to make up for and are gonna be taking me out quite a bit." 

Startled, Jisung's mouth parts in a little O as he stares back at him. Minho's smile just widens. "You-- you just said you didn't want me to pay you back at all, now you're counting how much you've spent on me?" 

"You offered," Minho replies in a sing-song voice. "So who am I to refuse such a kind offer?" 

Jisung squints at him for a moment before pressing his lips into a thin line. Then he says, "You're kind of an asshole, did you know that?" 

"Maybe," Minho says. The smug smile never leaves his face. "But you find me charming because of it." 

"I definitely do not," he protests instantly. 

"You do." 

"No! If anything I like you in spite of you being a bit of an asshole. Definitely not because of it!" 

"But the keyword here is you _do_ like me," Minho says cheekily, like he just found his checkmate. 

And he did, because Jisung shuts his mouth real fast when Minho says that. 

"See, Sungie?" The other boy's eyes twinkle mischievously. The nickname is a pointed blow. "I'm right. Besides, I can't blame you. What's not to like? Have you seen me?" 

He playfully tugs at the collar of his shirt and bites his lip in an exaggerated way, obviously joking, but that doesn't stop the way Jisung's stomach drops at the sight. 

"You're awful," he finally manages, his voice sounding weak to his own ears. 

"But you like me," the menace teases again. 

"Shut up." Jisung fiddles with the edge of his book, long since forgotten. "Are you going to let me buy you something or what?" 

"It's a date," Minho says with a laugh, and Jisung feels like Minho's just kicked him in the chest. He knows Minho doesn't mean it literally, and yet-- 

He coughs. "So when should we…" 

"I'm not working tomorrow so you can swing by after my class if you want." 

"I assume it's the same building I've seen Felix and Hyunjin walk to, unless it's not a dance class you're going to?" Jisung says. 

"White boxy building with the bushes and statue of the founder in front of it?" Minho asks. Jisung nods. "Yeah, that's it. I get out of class at 3:30 if that works for you?" 

"That works perfectly," Jisung tells him, and he can't help the giddiness he feels. 

 

\---

 

He shows up outside of Minho's class a bit too early. Well, a bit is underplaying it. He shows up thirty minutes early, mostly because his anxiety decides that being early is better than being late. 

It's not like it's a bad place to wait, at least. It's a pretty area, especially with all the leaves on the trees changed colors. Jisung sits on the ledge of the statue in front of the building, checking his phone's clock every few minutes like it'll speed the time along or something. 

Finally, _finally_ , the clock ticks over the hour and a flood of students come rushing out. Jisung shoves his hands into his pockets and waits, taking deep breaths as he watches for Minho. Sure enough, his friend comes out at the tail end of the wave of people. 

The first thing Jisung notices is that Minho's hair is slightly damp and ruffled, like he just dried it with a towel. The second is the flush of Minho's skin and the sheen of sweat on his forehead. 

Oh. He was dancing. 

_He was dancing,_ Jisung thinks again, this time with much more distress. 

He's known Minho's a dancer for months now, it's not news, but actually seeing him walk out of class after clearly having _danced_ still makes Jisung's face heat up. 

The worst part? Jisung thinks he's kind of hot like this. 

Having a crush is awful, Jisung decides. 

"Hey," he says as Minho approaches, jumping to his feet. 

"Hey," Minho echoes with a smile, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. Jisung's chest tightens. 

"Why are you all gross?" Jisung asks, because if he has to deal with Minho being sweaty and hot then he thinks he's entitled to coping in his own way. 

"Just to fuck with you," Minho says, looking down at himself. "Sorry. Do you mind if we stop by my apartment before doing your thing? The showers here were taking too long and I'd rather not leave you waiting out here for too long. At least at our apartment you'd be more comfortable." 

The apartment. Minho's apartment. The apartment at which Minho lives. 

Oh, fuck. This wasn't in the plan at all. 

He hasn't been to Minho's place before, although he's heard Minho talk about it. He's never had a reason to go since the two of them usually just go to places near campus and there's no point for Minho to drive all the way home when he can just wait until after they're done hanging out. 

He'd be lying through his teeth if he didn't admit the part of him was kind of excited to actually see Minho's place. It's only fair, after all. Minho's been over to Jisung's dorm a lot of times now. 

"Oh! Of course. I don't see why not," Jisung tells him, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. 

Minho picks at the hem of his black shirt. "Besides, I can change into something nicer than this." 

"Hopefully not too much nicer," Jisung says, looking down at his own outfit: his favorite magenta button-up with a leather jacket over it, a pair of skinny jeans that have lost some of the black pigmentation and turned gray in some parts, and the tennis shoes he got from Chan for his birthday after the older realized his old ones were pretty beat up. He didn't even styled his hair today, just swept it off to one side and brushed it down until the blonde waves didn't stuck up everywhere in a fluffy mess like they were often prone to do. He'd pulled a beanie over it and called it a day. 

It hadn't even occurred to him that this might be a thing to dress nicer for, or that Minho would take it that way. 

Minho just snorts, reaching out and hooking his arm with Jisung's and tugging him in the direction of the parking lot where he usually parks his car. Jisung pretends to gag at Minho touching him when he's all sweaty. "You look fine." 

"Better than you do right now," Jisung shoots back playfully, like he wasn't just upset with how attractive he still finds Minho even when he's gross. 

Minho rolls his eyes. "Alright, well now I'm dressing up real nice just to spite you. I'm going to make you look _broke_ next to me." 

"I am broke compared to you!" Jisung says with a laugh, bumping up against Minho and making them swerve on the sidewalk. 

"Then why are you taking me out?" Minho counters. 

"Because I like you," Jisung answers easily, because it's the truth. Then he adds, "Also because I want to go to the place I picked out too. You're basically just a glorified ride there." 

"You still haven't told me where we're going," Minho complains. "How am I supposed to bring us there if you won't budge?" 

"Just trust me," Jisung says. 

"Like I have a choice," Minho shoots back. 

"You could just not go," he points out. 

"Yeah, but then neither of us would get to go to your mystery location, so I guess we're stuck together." 

"I guess so." 

 

\---

 

Minho's apartment is further downtown than any of the places they've gone together in the time they've known each other. The closest place is the one ice cream parlor where the chocolate ice cream was so rich it made Minho literally sick after a few bites. They end up parking in a lot behind it, with Minho listing off all his grievances about the parking and building as they get out of the car and Minho guides him up the stairs of the building. 

"Isn't there an elevator?" Jisung asks as they climb to the third floor. 

"There is," Minho admits, "but I'll be honest, I've been paranoid about using elevators since Felix told me about the time you guys got stuck in the one at your dorm." 

"Okay, that's fair," Jisung relents. 

When Minho finally gets to his place on the fourth floor and opens the door, quickly moving inside and slipping his shoes off before venturing further in, Jisung is left standing in the doorway taking it in. It isn't too big or fancy, but it's definitely nice for a college student-- two college students, Jisung is reminded as he hears Minho call out a greeting that's echoed by a deep voice. 

Taking a breath, Jisung steps out of his shoes and follows Minho into the apartment, where he can now see the little kitchen-living room combination where Minho is leaning against the counter talking to a boy who sits on a couch against the wall browsing on a laptop. 

"--I just think it's dumb that they're trying to make me come in for extra shifts just because this one kid can't do his job right," the roommate-- Changbin, he recalls from Minho talking about him-- is telling Minho. 

"I don't know how he hasn't gotten fired when he's missed so much work," Minho says, tapping his fingers on the counter. 

"We work at a convenience store, it's not like there aren't hundreds of college students willing to take his place for pay on the side," Changbin says with a sigh, then adds in a whiney voice, "Everything has to make my life more difficult though, so of course they keep him around so I have to be the one to fill in for him." 

"At least more shifts means more money," Minho offers. 

"That's true," Changbin relents. 

It's at this point that Jisung creeps up beside Minho, the other two finally noticing him. Changbin blinks as he takes him in, seeming to process that somebody else is in their home listening to him complain about work. Minho just bumps his elbow against Jisung's playfully. 

"Oh," Changbin says after a moment, looking between Jisung and Minho. "This is the guy you fucked up your hands trying to impress by skateboarding right?" 

Minho inhales sharply, jaw clenching as he squints at the boy on the couch. 

Oh, he likes Changbin, Jisung decides. 

"That's me," Jisung says, and the anxiety he had about meeting Minho's roommate doesn't seem as intense now that he's actually here. "You can call me Jisung though, it's shorter." 

"Changbin," he replies, gesturing at himself. "Nice to finally meet you. I've heard enough about you that I feel like I already have." 

"Minho says stuff about me?" Jisung says in surprise, turning to look at Minho, whose face sours even more much to Jisung's amusement. He didn't realize Minho talks to his roommate about him. He tells his friends about Minho, of course, but that's mostly because he thought Minho was hot, then Minho actually met them and there was no way he could get away with not talking to them about him. 

Minho liking Jisung enough that he tells his roommate about him definitely makes his chest do something funny. 

"Only good things," Changbin says, voice tinged with amusement as he looks as Minho. " _Only_ good things." 

"I'm not going to like you two together," Minho decides out loud, and Changbin lets out a throaty, rumbling laugh. 

"Well," Minho says dryly, taking a few steps away from Jisung, "I just came back here to shower and change. We'll be leaving pretty soon." 

"How wonderful," Changbin tells him, and the funny grin like he knows something Jisung doesn't is something Jisung can't figure out. 

Minho, however, obviously knows what Changbin does, because his face twists into a look of sheer annoyance. 

Jisung barely has time to process the way Minho grips the bottom of his shirt and yanks it up over his head, revealing a smooth plane of skin-- and abs, god, of course he has _abs_ , he's a dancer, he doesn't know why he didn't expect him to have abs, _abs_ \-- before he promptly tosses the sweaty black shirt directly at his roommate's head. 

Changbin makes a sound of disgust, throwing it off of him and onto the floor. "Lee Minho can you stop being gross for once in your life?" 

"No!" Minho calls back, already slipping off into a door that Jisung can only assume is the bathroom. 

All he can do is stare after him, the cogs in his brain desperately turning to try to get him functioning again. 

"Hey kid, welcome to the apartment," Changbin says, interrupting Jisung's rebooting. "Whatever decency Minho has outside of these walls gets left on the doormat the minute he comes inside, as you just saw." 

"He's so… much," Jisung finally settles on saying, because he doesn't really know what else would describe Lee Minho. 

"Oh, he's a weird guy," Changbin says with zero hesitation. "I don't mind though, obviously." 

"Can I… ask how you two ended up living together?" Jisung asks, unsure. 

Changbin shrugs like it isn't a problem at all. "We were roommates last year in the dorms and we just kind of clicked. When my parents offered to help pay for an apartment for this year, I asked Minho if he wanted to be roommates and split the rest together." 

His parents help pay for his apartment? Huh. He'd wondered of course if Minho and his roommate were completely covering the cost themselves, it's not like that's be impossible or anything, just more work, but it would make sense since Minho seems to have a little extra breathing room financially than a lot of other students he knew that lived out of the dorms but didn't live at home either. 

Jisung wouldn't have pegged Changbin as a kid from money just by looks though. Of course, he's only met him once and heard about him secondhand from Minho. And seeing him now, Changbin's just in a normal gray T-shirt and dark sweatpants, a bunch of piercings in his ears that glitter with silver in the laptop's light. He looks like a completely normal college kid, complete with the perpetually sleepy demeanor-- although he's quickly getting the impression that might just be what Changbin's like. 

"You guys get along well then?" Jisung asks. 

"Like I said, obviously," Changbin says, gesturing around at the apartment. "We haven't killed each other or moved out yet, so that's a plus. We have our spats but that's just normal roommate stuff." 

"That's good," Jisung says. 

Changbin just laughs. "Yeah, it sure is. It makes the whole living situation a lot better, that's for sure." 

Jisung hums in agreement. Now that he's actually close to Changbin, he can't shake the feeling that he's seen him around somewhere. He knows he's a student, of course, so it's entirely possible he's just seen him around campus before. Changbin has a rather distinctive face, all sharp angles, so it would make sense that even just passing by him Jisung would at least partially remember him. 

"Hey kid," Changbin says after a moment, a funny smile on his face, "I know I'm handsome, but what's with all the staring?" 

Jisung startles. He hadn't realized he'd been doing that. 

"Sorry," he says quickly. 

Changbin waves his hand dismissively. "I'm teasing you. Don't worry. What is with the staring though?" 

"I'm trying to figure out why you seem familiar," Jisung admits. 

Changbin gives him a thoughtful little frown, then snaps his fingers. "You know Chan? Australian? Year above me, so two years above you?" 

Jisung blinks. Of course he knows Chan. He doesn't see the older boy nearly enough these days because of how busy Chan is now, but they talk when they can. It's how he met Woojin after all. "I mean, he was kind of my babysitter for a few years when I was younger and I'm friends with his little brother, so yeah." 

Changbin peers at him curiously. "No shit?" 

Jisung shrugs. "No shit. How'd you guess Chan?" 

"Chan is like… god, he knows everybody. It's honestly a little freaky sometimes." Changbin leans back against the couch and stretches out again. "Anyways, you might've seen me around him. We hang out a lot." 

Now that he really thinks about it, Jisung can vaguely recall a shorter boy with a similar haircut to Changbin hanging around with Chan occasionally when he'd say hello to him when they passed each other on campus sometimes. Ah, that makes sense. And that also means-- 

"Wait," Jisung says, frowning. "Does Chan know Minho?" 

"Duh," Changbin answers instantly. "He comes over to hang out with us sometimes." 

He shakes his head. "Did everybody know Minho before I did?" 

Changbin laughs at that. "Well, like I said. Chan kind of knows everybody. It's his thing. You got other friends who know Minho too?" 

"Yeah. My own roommate and our friend Hyunjin down the hall both know him as the really cool dance major in the year above us. Felix recognized him after they met the first time." 

" _Cool_ ," Changbin repeats with a snort. "God, Minho's really out here convincing the youths that he's cool, huh?" 

"He is… kind of cool," Jisung admits slowly. Which is an understatement on how he feels about Minho, really. 

"He stops being cool the minute he slips from dancing in the shower and you have to barge down the door and make sure his naked ass didn't break anything," Changbin says solemnly. 

Jisung can't help the laugh that comes out of his mouth. "Wait, really?" 

"Oh, yeah. And that's only the tip of the iceberg with him." Changbin pats the couch seat next to him and Jisung doesn't hesitate to sit down. "Stick with me kid, I'll let you in on all the embarrassing Minho stories the man himself doesn't want you to know." 

"What other stories do you have?" Jisung asks in awe, leaning forward so he can put his elbow on his knee and rest his chin in his hand. 

Changbin, it turns out, has a lot of stories. _A lot._ The fact that he only gets through two-- one about Minho dancing straight through his pants ripping right down the back during a showcase and one about the time he tried to pet a raccoon that he mistook for a cat-- is endlessly delightful to Jisung, because that means there's so many more if Changbin is to be believed. 

"Wow," he finally says after a long moment. 

"Yeah!" Changbin agrees with a laugh. "Like I said! Minho's weird." 

"Ah, I don't really think he's weird," Jisung admits after a moment. "I think he just… thinks differently than a lot of people? And expresses himself in his own way I guess. It makes him fun to be around." 

Changbin gives him a look then, and it kind of makes the hair on the back of Jisung's neck stand up. Finally, he says, "Of course you wouldn't think he's weird." 

Jisung blinks rapidly. "W-what does that mean?" 

Changbin just shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. You guys are just more alike than you realize, I think." 

Before he can ask for more elaboration-- because really, what does that mean-- the door that Minho slipped through earlier opens. He appears again, fresh from cleaning up in a crisp black button up. His dark brown hair is mussed, fluffy and a bit curly in some places, presumably from just being dried after coming out of the shower. A pair of circle-rimmed glasses sit on the bridge of his nose. It's really cute. 

Minho's really cute. 

"Oh good," Minho says as his eyes land on where Jisung sits on the couch with Changbin, "you didn't scare him off." 

"If you haven't scared him off yet then I'm certainly not going to be the one to do so," Changbin shoots back. 

"Very funny," Minho says. Then he holds up his keys. "You ready to head out?" 

Jisung practically jumps to his feet, something that doesn't seem to be lost on Changbin based on the other boy's snort. "Yeah!" 

"Don't go too crazy you two," Changbin tells them, dropping his eyes back down to his laptop screen. 

"No promises," Minho says. 

"Nice meeting you, Jisung," Changbin says as he looks up once more, offering him a little wave. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again. Bye." 

"Bye, Changbin," Jisung says at the same time that Minho says, "Bye, loser." 

Changbin just rolls his eyes, and with that, Minho and Jisung leave to apartment and get on their merry way. 

"I didn't know you wear glasses," Jisung says absently as they walk down the stairs together. 

"I usually wear contacts," Minho tells him, reaching up to adjust the lasses in question. "I didn't feel like putting them in again after I showered, so glasses it is for tonight." 

"You look good," Jisung offers. 

Minho smiles. "Thanks. What about you?" 

"Me?" 

"Do you wear glasses?" 

"Contacts," Jisung says. "I used to wear glasses but I don't really like the way I look in them." 

"I bet you'd look cute," Minho says, and Jisung reaches up to touch the back of his neck. 

"How do you know?" Jisung asks. 

"I just know," Minho says confidently. 

"If you say so." 

"Do you like Changbin?" Minho asks after a moment. 

Jisung turns to look at him, giving him a smile. "I do! He seems really nice. He's funny too." 

"Good, good," Minho says, almost more to himself as a smile of his own pulls at his lips. 

They walk the rest of the way down to the car in comfortable silence. Minho holds the door out to the parking lot open for Jisung with an exaggerated flourish that makes Jisung laugh. 

"You gonna hold my car door open for me too?" Jisung asks playfully. 

"Fuck no, I'm not your chauffeur," Minho tells him. 

Jisung just laughs again. 

"Alright," Minho says after they've both climbed in, "are you finally going to tell me where we're going now?" 

Jisung just hums, clicking his seatbelt into the buckle. "I told you that it's a surprise. I'll just tell you the directions." 

Minho sighs as he starts his car. "Sounds like something a murderer would say before luring you to a secondary location, but okay." 

Jisung snorts. "Stop being dramatic. Just trust me, okay?" 

"Dramatic? Says the one refusing to tell me where we're going." Minho rolls his eyes. "Just know if you kill me I _will_ come back to haunt your ass and I _will_ be the most obnoxious ghost in history." 

"Noted." 

 

\---

 

Jisung manages to navigate fairly well, in his humble opinion. Minho might disagree, however, as he constantly criticizes Jisung's choice of directions despite having no idea where they're actually going. Jisung doesn't really mind, though. He knows Minho doesn't actually care and besides, it's fun to bicker with Minho. 

Eventually, they do end up pulling up outside of a building much further downtown than any place they've gone together before. Jisung lights up when he sees it, recognizing it from the website he checked out. Minho, for his part, just seems completely clueless. He can't blame him though, it's not like there's exactly a neon sign pointing out what it is. Instead, a pink sign lit by faint yellow lights illuminates the doorway of the building, windows lining the building where he can see-- 

Well, he better get Minho moving. He doesn't want to spoil the surprise. 

"Come on," he tells Minho after they both get out of the car, grabbing the other boy by the hand and tugging him towards the door, not even giving him a chance to look at what's in the windows for too long. 

"Slow down, Sungie," Minho says, voice raised. He doesn't fight at all, despite his protests, just lets Jisung pull him along. 

"Hurry up!" Jisung counters, tugging open the door and pulling his friend inside as the little bell above them chimes. 

A young woman with short bleached hair who looks a little older than him despite her height looks up from the counter where she stands as they come in, her face lighting up into a smile that Jisung's sure is practiced but warm nonetheless. 

"Hi," she says, adjusting her apron. Jisung notes with a smile that a cute patch of a kitten playing with yarn is sewn onto the pocket. "Welcome to Cat's Cradle, I assume you two want a table?" 

"Yes please," Jisung says. 

"Great! Have you been here before?" 

Jisung just shakes his head. 

"Alright, well I'll explain the rules while I bring you to a table. Any preferences for seating?" 

Jisung looks over at Minho to see if he has any input, finding himself grinning as he takes in his friend's expression. 

Minho is completely floored, just staring out into the cafe as he takes in the cute decor, faint cheery music playing overhead, and-- most importantly-- the abundance of cats going about their business beyond the little fence and gate that blocks them from the entrance. His eyes are wide, glittering in the lighting with his lips parted in awe. 

So a cat cafe was a good choice, Jisung thinks with delight. Just like he guessed. 

"Any seating preferences?" Jisung echoes to Minho. 

Minho ignores him. Or maybe he just doesn't hear him, because from Jisung's perspective the older boy has zoned in completely on a tabby rolling around on the floor nearby with an eye full of wonder. Either way, the waitress gives him an amused look before turning her attention to Jisung instead, which is fine for him. He's the one paying, after all. 

Minho, for his part, remains zoned out while he talks to the waitress and arranges for a table. It's only after she says she'll bring them over to one that Jisung taps Minho on the shoulder to get his attention. 

"Hey, you wanna just stand here and watch _or_ do you wanna come with me and get something to drink and actually play with the cats?" Jisung can't stop the smile from spreading across his face as Minho visibly recollects himself, tearing his gaze from the cats to look at the other boy. 

"Where did you find this place?" Minho asks, and his voice is soft and a little dreamy. It makes Jisung snort. 

He gently places a hand on Minho's elbow and gives him a tiny tug in the direction the waitress is walking. "Walk and talk." Minho luckily listens, falling in step with Jisung as they follow her over towards the seating area. "I actually didn't know about it until I looked it up." 

"Why were you l--" Minho's cut off by the waitress coming to a halt in front of two plush chairs in the corner of a room, a little table between them. She hands Jisung two menus she had tucked under her arm and tells them she'll be back soon for their orders before leaving them to take care of another customer. 

Jisung looks down at the menus, smiling wide. They're cute, shaped like cat heads on pretty pink paper with drinks on one side and little desserts on the other. "This place is adorable." 

"It is," Minho agrees, and makes a move to shrug off his jacket, jolting Jisung's hand where it sits on his elbow, forgotten while they walked together. Minho turns to look at Jisung quizzically. Jisung pulls his hand away quickly, shoving it into the pocket of his jacket, warmth creeping up the back of his neck. Minho gives him a once over before giving him a little smile-- Jisung's stomach does flips at the sight-- and putting his jacket over the back of his chair and taking a seat. He stretches his legs out and crosses one over the other, and really, what nice legs they are, especially in the pants Minho wore today, and-- 

Jisung coughs and takes a seat in the chair across from Minho, pointedly looking down at his little menu before sliding the second across the table to his friend. 

He already knows he's getting hot chocolate and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, picking them out the second he lays eyes on them, and with a little sigh he puts the menu down again. Minho, however, is still looking at his, and when Jisung looks over at him he can't help but bite his lip. 

Minho really is pretty, isn't he? He has his head tilted slightly as he looks down at the menu, his lips moving silently as he reads along with it. From this angle Jisung can tell how long his eyelashes are. He flips it over to look at the desserts and tilts his head a little more, causing a wave of dark hair to fall into his face, and without a second thought reaches up and sweeps it back. 

God. He's just so pretty. 

Jisung is so fucked. 

They flag the waitress down again and she takes their orders before running off again, leaving the two of them alone once more. Minho's eagerly scanning the cafe, looking around at all the cats. The little tabby from the entrance waddles over to Minho then, clearly as interested in him as he was in it. It meows loudly at him before wrapping itself around one of his legs, tail curling. Minho lets out a soft gasp at the affection as the sweetest, dopiest smile spreads across his face. 

He's not just pretty, Jisung decides as he watches Minho lean down and offer his hand for the cat to sniff. He's cute. He's spent these past few months thinking about how pretty Minho is, how hot, but he's really just incredibly cute. His eyes twinkle with pure joy as the cat rubs up against his hand, urging him to pet the soft fur behind its ears. 

Lee Minho is maybe the cutest boy on earth, and that's even more dangerous to Jisung than him just being pretty or hot. 

"Why were you looking up cat cafes?" Minho asks suddenly, jolting Jisung from thoughts of how adorable the other boy is. When Minho looks up at him, Jisung immediately drops his gaze down to the tabby Minho's petting. 

"What?" Jisung asks, trying to figure out what Minho just said to him, having lost half the words in the shock of being dragged out of his soft thoughts. 

"It just seems like a funny thing for you to be looking up," Minho says with a little laugh. 

"Oh, um." Jisung shifts in his seat. Alright. Time to make a choice about how honest and gay he's going to be here. He could lie and come up with a reason, but-- well, but some part of him wants Minho to know that he was doing this for him. "The other day, you were telling me about your cats at your parents' house, the ones you can't bring with you to the apartment because of the no pet rule. Then you were telling me about how much you miss them, and, well… well, I can't bring you to them or them to you, unfortunately, but I figured I could maybe find you somewhere else close by you could visit and play with cats. So I just… thought this was the next best thing." 

Silence hangs over their table. He can't bring himself to look at Minho's face, instead looking down at his hands, spinning the ring on his pinkie slowly to distract himself. 

"Sorry," he says after Minho doesn't reply for a few seconds. "It's stupid, I know." 

"God, you're so cute," Minho says finally. Jisung feels like the other boy just clocked him, eyes shooting up to look at him. Across the table, Minho's smiling at him. And it's not the usual smile he wears, but one so soft and wide it reaches his dark eyes, shining like they hold the galaxy itself in them. 

"What?" Jisung finally manages to splutter, nervously spinning his ring faster. 

Minho laughs at him then. "I said you're cute!" 

"I-- I am not," he protests, forcing himself to keep looking Minho in the eye. "Stop calling me cute!" 

"I'll stop calling you cute when you stop being cute," Minho retorts with a grin, shaking his head with another laugh before turning back to the cat rubbing up on him. 

Seeing Minho's eyes are off of him, Jisung reaches up and touches his face. He's warm, which means he's probably blushing. That's just great. 

He wishes Minho didn't have the ability to turn him to jelly with just the word 'cute', but unfortunately that's where they're at. 

"I wonder what your name is," Minho says to the cat, voice impossibly soft. It makes Jisung's heart ache. 

Glancing at the table, he notices another piece of laminated paper propped up next to a box of napkin. Picking it up, he flips it over and is delighted at what he finds. 

"Let's find out," he says to Minho, holding the paper out so Minho can see. It a list of all the cats in the cafe, including pictures and a little blurb about them. Minho's eyes go wide as saucers and Jisung's all too happy to put it between them on the table so they can both read. 

Minho's friend is the last cat listed, apparently the youngest one here. 

"Dori," Minho says breathily, saying the name like it's something to be treasured. God, he's cute. He's so cute. 

"Saved from a shelter as a kitten," Jisung reads, glancing down at the cat herself who's currently still rubbing up on Minho's hand where he's letting it hang in her reach. "She's adapted to the cafe well. Dori likes cuddling, chasing toys, and annoying her siblings like a true younger sister." 

"I'm in love with her," Minho declares, turning his attention back to the kitten. 

The night goes on like that, Minho only half paying attention to Jisung and their orders because he's too busy playing with the cats. Usually Jisung would be annoyed at being ignored, but he doesn't have an ounce of it in him now. 

However cute and likable he's thought Minho in the past, it dwarfs in comparison to how overwhelmingly endearing Minho is with cats. His eyes light up in a way Jisung's never seen before, his voice all soft and playful as he calls out to cats as they wander by. When they come up to him, the joy on Minho's face is so infectious that Jisung finds himself unable to keep from smiling. 

"Thank you for bringing me here," Minho says after they finally leave, the night air cool on Jisung's face after the warmth of the cafe. When he turns to look at Minho, a small, dreamy smile is on his face, his cheeks flushed a rosy pink. The glow of streetlights cast him in golden light, his dark hair and sharp features illuminated, glasses glared on one side. 

Jisung thinks he's beautiful. 

"I hope it made you happy," Jisung manages, a smile forming on his own lips. 

"Of course it made me happy," Minho says instantly, grabbing onto Jisung's arm as they come to a stop in front of the car. He pulls at Jisung's arm until he turns so they're facing each other, Jisung tilting his head up to look at Minho's face. "Jisung, _you_ made me happy." 

Before he has time to process Minho's words, the other boy tugs at his arm, pulling him to his chest and wrapping his arms around him. 

In that moment, Jisung's brain short-circuits. All of his thoughts come to an abrupt halt, the only thing he's able to process the warmth of Minho pressed against him, the light pressure of Minho's arms around, the faint smell of lavender that must be Minho's shampoo, the sound of Minho's heartbeat in his ear-- 

Minho. Just Minho. 

"I'm so glad we're friends," Minho whispers, breath tickling Jisung's ear. 

And maybe Jisung should be upset with that, that he's just Minho's friend when he knows that he wants to be something else too. But for the life of him, he can't be upset. Because Minho's his friend, his dear friend who he loves more than anything, who understands him like nobody else does. Who fits perfectly with him in every way. 

Jisung doesn't even know if he can call it a crush anymore, because suddenly he's overwhelmed with just how _much_ he likes Minho, how much he feels for him. He doesn't care if him and Minho never end up the way he thinks about sometimes, because Minho is his friend and that's the most wonderful thing in the world to him. 

It feels like sunflowers are blooming in his chest. 

"I'm glad we're friends too," Jisung finally whispers back, and he means it. 

Minho squeezes him tighter for a moment, then lets him go, a laugh bubbling up out of his throat. His cheeks are even more flushed now. "Wow, that's enough of that sappiness. I don't know what came over me just then." 

"I think the cats got to you," Jisung says, voice uneven. 

Minho doesn't mention it, just smiles wider. Jisung could watch him smile like this for the rest of his life. 

"That must be it, Jisung." 

 

\---

 

Monday is a quiet day for the four boys at the dorm. Jisung's day is completely clear and the others don't have classes until much later. That means that whenever they all wake up early enough, it's the perfect day for all of them to go out together for breakfast. 

Today is no different, the four of them hanging out in Jisung and Felix's room all waking up to get ready to go out. 

"I just finished it last night," Hyunjin says, talking about a drama he's been watching. "It was so bad. It was just… so contrived." 

"It's a drama," Seungmin points out. "Dramas are always contrived." 

"Yeah, but there's a fun kind of contrived and an absolutely boring awful kind of contrived," Jisung tells him, which Hyunjin adamantly nods at. 

A knock on the door distracts them momentarily, the four of them looking between the door and each other. 

Felix, good person that he is, gets up from where he's sitting on the floor. "I got it, don't worry." 

"Thanks," Jisung tells him, and the other two echo it. He turns back to Hyunjin. "Anyways, I'm just saying that as far as dramas go, there are way better ones." 

"You need to give me your list again," Hyunjin says as the door to the room opens. "Both times you've recommended one to me I've enjoyed them a lot." 

"Oh, hi Minho!" Felix says suddenly, and Jisung head whips around immediately to look at the door. 

Sure enough, Felix is standing in front of Minho, who's glancing in on the room with curious eyes. "Hi, Felix." 

"Minho," Jisung says, getting up off the bed, trying to ignore the amused looks Hyunjin and Seungmin are exchanging across the room. "Hey." 

"Hey," Minho repeats, an easy smile spreading across his face as his eyes fall on Jisung. 

"What are you doing here?" Jisung asks. 

"Well," Minho starts, glancing around at the other boys. "I did come here to see if you wanted to get breakfast with me, but it kind of looks like you might be busy." 

"We were planning to go out ourselves," Jisung says apologetically. He'd love to spend time with Minho, of course he would, but he'd feel like shit ditching his friends. 

"That's what I thought," Minho acknowledges, shifting in the doorway. Suddenly, a mischievous spark lights up in his eyes. "Actually, I have a proposition for all four of you then." 

"Oh?" Seungmin says, leaning forward from where he sits to look at Minho. 

"Let me tag along and I'll give you a ride and pay," Minho says. "For all of you." 

When Minho offers to take them all out _and_ pay, all four of the boys in the tiny dorm room snap to attention. Minho smiles easily, knowing he's got them now. 

They're broke college kids. They'd be crazy not to take someone up on an offer for free food. 

So that's how they all end up piling into Minho's shitty little car, stomachs growling loud enough that the older boy laughs at all of them. Felix ends up squished between Seungmin and Hyunjin in the back seat, looking particularly small next to the bigger boys. From his spot in the passenger seat, Jisung turns around and sticks his tongue out at them. It earns him a chorus of complaints from the squished boys and an eye roll from Minho. 

The diner they go to is a few blocks away from campus. It's popular with students, so he really isn't surprised to find it fairly busy when they all walk in. Hyunjin waves at a group of boys across the room, turning to the rest of them to explain he knows them from one of his classes. 

"I haven't been here in a while," Minho admits as they find their seats at a booth by one of the big windows that overlooks the street. 

Seungmin and Felix squeeze in together on one side, not even thinking about where they're going to sit. Hyunjin glances between the couple and the two boys currently standing before he gives Jisung a smile and sits down next to Seungmin and Felix. 

Ah. Okay. So this is what they're doing. 

Minho seems unbothered as he takes a seat opposite them, immediately picking up one of the menus on the table and flipping through it. Jisung slowly slides in next to him, making sure to keep enough space between them that he isn't _too_ close to Minho. 

Seungmin snorts, seemingly onto how nervous he is to be sitting with Minho. Jisung shoots him a dirty look. 

His nervousness is forgotten soon enough, instead replaced by hunger as he watches a plate of eggs being brought to a table nearby, his mouth-watering enough that if he opens it to talk he's afraid he'll just start drooling. 

"So we should get the cheap stuff," Seungmin says as he points out a dish on the menu to Felix and Hyunjin. "Since Minho's paying." 

Minho waves his hand dismissively, "Get whatever you want." 

Felix's jaw drops from across the table, like Minho just told him he won a grand prize or something. 

Jisung blinks in surprise, turning to look at him. "Are you sure? It's five people, I'm sure we wouldn't mind all choosing cheap stuff and splitting it." 

Minho shakes his head. "I don't mind." This time he looks up directly at the boys across from them to say, "I'm serious. Pick what you want, I don't care." 

The other boys don't have to be told twice, excitedly pointing things out to each other on their menus now that they've been told there's no limit. 

Jisung, however, isn't so easy to accept it. He leans into Minho's side, bringing his hand up to cover his ear as he talks in a quiet voice. "Minho, I mean it. Is this okay? You don't have to do this." 

Minho just takes the hand Jisung's holding up by the wrist and gently puts it down on the table, turning to look at him with a smile. "Really, it's okay. I'm fine with paying." 

"Okay," Jisung says slowly, still unsure but not wanting to argue with his friend. Minho gives a little nod of encouragement at his menu and Jisung pulls back, humoring him by looking down at it again. 

He stares at the special on the back page: double chocolate chip pancakes. They're a little more expensive than the other dishes he was looking at though, and he knows Minho said to just get whatever he wants but he feels bad anyways. 

"Are you getting those?" Minho asks, leaning over to press their shoulders together as he looks at Jisung's menu. 

He shakes his head. He's not going to tell Minho it's because he doesn't want him spending that much when there are other options that are cheaper that he wouldn't mind having, as much as he'd love to have some of those pancakes. "I'm just getting some eggs I think," he says. 

Minho gives him a funny look, then shakes his head a little and leans away again. "Whatever you want, Jisung." 

When the waitress comes over to take their group's order, Jisung can't help but realize how spendy this is going to be if they keep going out together. He'll have to get the others to split the bill in the future with Minho so the burden isn't just on him financially anymore, although he knows better than to argue with Minho now that he seems to have made up his mind to pay for whatever they want and they came here on his offer to buy anyways. 

The other three rattle off their orders, and the waitress nods as she scribbles them down in her notepad, finally coming over to Minho. 

The boy next to him stares down at where his menu is open, presumably whatever he's thinking about getting. He opens his mouth to say it before suddenly shutting it. Much to Jisung's confusion, he watches as Minho closes the menu and flips to the back of it, where the chocolate pancakes are advertised. 

"I'll have these, actually," he tells her, tapping at the picture. She nods. 

Meanwhile, Jisung just looks at him. 

When Minho catches his gaze he smiles. "They looked really good after you pointed them out." 

"They do look good," he agrees slowly. 

Well. Now he's just kind of jealous. 

Not enough to ask for his own though, especially not when Minho's already getting a plate for himself. 

Jisung gets an omelette, having been hungry for eggs ever since the waitress passed by with the plate of them, however he quickly second guesses his commitment to going for the cheaper option when the food arrives and Minho's pancakes are set down next to him. They're smothered in whipped cream and chocolate drizzle and that's before Minho's even put any syrup on them. 

They look good. They look really good. 

Curse him and his good nature not wanting to take advantage of Minho's hospitality any more than he already has. 

To his credit, his disappointment doesn't last long. As soon as he digs into his eggs he stops caring, the only thing that matters being how _good_ his own food is. Sure, it's no double chocolate chip pancake, but it's genuinely one of the best omelettes Jisung's ever had in his life so he can't be all that mad. 

Halfway through a sip of hot chocolate he feels Minho nudge his shoulder. When he turns to look at him, the other boy is holding a couple of pieces of his pancakes that have been speared through, his other hand cupped just below it in case it drops. 

"Try it," he tells him, and Jisung wonders how obvious he made it that he's been drooling over how good Minho's food looks. Obvious enough that Minho doesn't even bother giving Jisung a chance to turn him down, apparently, because as soon as he says that he's holding the pancakes right in front of his mouth. 

Without even thinking he opens his mouth and lets Minho feed him the pancakes, no doubt used to it from all the times Minho's fed him bits of chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, the pancakes are warm and fluffy and there are just enough chunks of half-melted chocolate chips that Jisung can't help but make a little happy noise. 

Reaching up to cover his mouth as he finishes swallowing it, he looks at Minho and says, "Wow, that's _really_ good!" 

"I knew you'd like it," Minho says with a smile before turning back to his plate and resuming eating. 

From across the table, the other three boys are exchanging looks. Jisung pretends not to see them, his face flushing hot as he realizes he just let Minho feed him in front of his friends. 

Minho, for his part, seems completely unbothered by what he just did. 

_Awful man_ , Jisung thinks as he ducks his head down towards his plate so he doesn't have to see his friends' increasingly amused expressions as he shovels eggs into his mouth. _Awful, awful man._

He's the first to finish, although to his credit Felix isn't far behind. He puts his garbage neatly on top of his plate so it's easy to pick up and pushes the plate towards the middle of the table, watching as Felix does the same. 

Minho bumps his shoulder against Jisung's, and when he looks over at him to see what he wants, Minho simply slides his plate over in front of Jisung. Only about half of the pancakes are gone, if that even. 

"What are you doing?" Jisung asks, scrunching his brow together in confusion. 

"They're too sweet for me," Minho admits. "I don't think I can finish them and I don't want to waste them. You liked them, so I thought you might want them." 

God. He does. But still-- 

"Are you sure?" Jisung asks, unable to stop himself from licking at his lips. Minho must notice, because a little smile spreads across his face. 

"I'm sure," Minho tells him. 

And fuck, Jisung's not going to say no to that when the other option is the food just going to waste. 

To say he scarfs it down is an understatement, really. 

"Thanks," he says through a full mouth of food, which makes Minho laugh. 

"Don't worry about it, Jisung." 

The tail end of their meal is fairly uneventful, just a lot of the three of them talking as the scrape whatever's left off their plates. Not a single bite is wasted. They are hungry college kids, after all. They don't waste food, especially not when it's on someone else's card. 

Felix is ecstatic to talk to Minho about dancing, Jisung's pleased to note. At first he's a bit worried his roommate is coming on too strong, but much to his delight Minho seems all too willing to answer all his questions. Hyunjin chimes in as well, the three dance majors looking positively chummy by the time they're all walking back to Minho's car. Jisung and Seungmin don't understand half of what they're saying, but they share a good-natured shrug and watch the three of them talk back and forth, enjoying seeing their friends get along. 

It's such a far cry from Minho's first meeting with Felix and Seungmin, and it makes Jisung unbelievably happy that despite the rough start they get along just fine. 

They end up dropping the other three off at campus again, Hyunjin and Felix off to their shared first class of the day and Seungmin off to unwind in his dorm before his starts up in a bit. 

Jisung stays in the car with Minho after they all leave, reclining the passenger seat and getting comfortable. His morning is clear today, at least until later in the afternoon. Minho's first class isn't for an hour and he doesn't see the point in driving back to his apartment if he'll just becoming back right away. A waste of gas. 

So they'll waste the time together. It's not like an hour is very long, not to them. Not when they're with each other. 

The strange phenomenon of Lee Minho, Jisung's found, is that the time he spends with Minho simultaneously moves achingly slow and much too fast. 

"Oh," Minho says suddenly in the middle of talking about a song that came on the radio, almost like he just thought of something, "I won't be able to take you out anywhere unless you're paying until next week." 

Jisung blinks. "That's fine, Minho. You don't have to take me out at all, although I'm grateful you do. Why not, though?" 

Minho flicks a piece of lint off the sleeve of him sweater. "Oh, I just blew through pretty much all my extra funds today on breakfast." 

Jisung inhales sharply. _"Minho."_

"What?" Minho looks at him innocently. 

"You should've _told_ us, we would've paid for some of it," Jisung tells him, and in his head he realizes he sounds a lot like Chan when he'd scold Jisung and Jeongin for spending all their money on junk food and the arcade. 

"I still have money for cheap food and gas," Minho says defensively. "Besides, rent isn't due for another two weeks and I paid my phone bill last week. It's fine, Jisung." 

He huffs, leaning back in the car seat. "Why'd you do that anyways? Even if nothing's due, you shouldn't have just blew it all on us." 

Minho suddenly seems very interested in his nails, picking at them. He says something but it's muffled. 

"I can't hear you," Jisung tells him. 

Minho seems really fascinated with his pinky nail. 

"Minho," Jisung says again, "come on, why'd you spend that much on us if you knew it'd wipe you out?" 

Finally Minho sighs, not looking up from his nails as he speaks. "I wanted your friends to like me." 

Jisung just stares at him, caught off-guard. "Why do-- I mean, you don't strike me as someone who cares about what other people think about you. Why were you bothered with what they thought?" 

Minho finally looks up at him then, and he looks at Jisung like he's the stupidest person on earth. "I don't care what _people_ think of me, Jisung. I care about what _they_ think because they're _your_ friends." 

It feels like Minho just kicked him in the chest with the way all the breath suddenly leaves his lungs. 

"Oh," is all he manages to get out. 

Minho cares what Jisung's friends think about him because they're Jisung's friends. He wants them to like him. 

For some reason that makes him feel unbearably warm. 

Minho is still just staring at him, his brow slightly creased. It feels like he's waiting for something more than 'oh' but Jisung honestly doesn't know what he wants to hear. 

Finally, he blurts out, "So are you saying my friends aren't people?" 

Minho's expressions shifts suddenly, blinking rapidly like Jisung just threw him off. "What?" 

Jisung laughs a little nervously. Why was _that_ what his brain thought of to throw out there? "You said you don't care what people think about you, but you care what my friends think. So my friends aren't people, right?" 

His words fall from his mouth awkwardly, knowing he sounds dumb but not being able to think a way out of this. So he guesses he's just cursed to sound dumb in front of Minho. 

After a minute Minho just shakes his head. To Jisung's relief, he doesn't seem annoyed, just exasperated. "Honestly. I tell you that you mean enough to me that I want your friends to like me and this is how you react." 

Feeling his cheeks heat up, he sinks down in his seat a bit more. 

Minho just rolls his eyes, reaching over to gently pat the top of Jisung's head like he's-- well, like he's a cat. "You're just lucky I like you so much, you little brat." 

Jisung turns his head to look at him, sticking his bottom lip out. "I'm a brat?" 

"And you know it," Minho answers evenly, smoothing a wayward piece of Jisung's hair down. "Unfortunately it seems like you're my brat, so I have to accept you as you are." 

"Awful decision," Jisung decides. 

"It's one I'll have to live with, because I'm not getting rid of you anytime soon," Minho says, a faint smile playing on his lips. 

And he knows Minho's joking, but that doesn't stop the way it makes Jisung grin. 

 

\---

 

"Free trial over, boys," Minho declares with a clap of his hands the next time he invites them all out for breakfast and catches Jisung giving him a pointed look. "I'll pay for some of it and provide the transportation, but we're splitting the bill before you all eat me out of house and home." 

"And here I thought we'd just be freeloaders for the rest of this friendship," Seungmin says dryly from where he's sitting on Jisung's bed next to him. 

"In your dreams, kid," Minho says, leaning against Jisung's desk and crossing his arms. "The only freeloader here is Jisung. The rest of you gotta figure your own stuff out." 

"Hey!" Jisung interjects, turning to look at Minho with a pout. "I don't freeload!" 

"Who's paid for the last three outings?" Minho counters. 

Jisung opens his mouth only to shut it immediately after. The answer is, of course, Minho. "I'll pay for the next one," he relents. 

Minho just snorts. "I've accepted I'm paying for you half the time, don't push yourself." He waves his hand at the other three boys. "You three, however, I didn't sign up for in the long run." 

"Whipped," Seungmin mumbles, low enough that Jisung can only hear it because he's right next to him. He turns sharply to shoot his friend a look, which only makes Seungmin shrug. 

"Splitting the bill makes more sense anyways," Hyunjin comments good-naturedly from where he's sitting criss-cross applesauce on the floor, a funny look for a boy so tall. 

"That's what I said last time," Jisung says, looking at Minho pointedly, "but somebody didn't want to do that." 

He doesn't elaborate. He got the impression that Minho wasn't exactly jumping to tell the others that he went out of his way to pay the first time just to make a good impression, so as much as Jisung has come to like teasing Minho, he's not about to out him on that if he doesn't want to admit it. 

Minho fishes his keys out of jacket pocket, holding them up where everybody can see. "Do you want to keep acting smug, or do you want to walk to the cafe?" 

Safe to say, that shuts Jisung up. 

 

\---

 

A few weeks into their weekly breakfast outing, Jisung has the genius idea of inviting Changbin out to eat with them, which Minho is all too happy to arrange. 

(Arrange is a funny way to say Minho drags Jisung to the apartment with him after he brings it up and holds Jisung by the shoulders in front of Changbin and goes, "You can't say no to this, can you?" 

"I can," Changbin says, but the two have built up a rapport in the short time they've known each other and as much as Changbin teases Jisung, the older boy has grown undeniably fond of him. 

Needless to say, he can't say no, although he certainly pretends like he can.) 

Changbin, Jisung and Minho are delighted to note, gets along swimmingly with the other three members of the lunch crew right from the start. He seems to enjoy being included and the rest of them like having him there, even if it makes the drive to the diner even more crowded in the backseat now-- although Hyunjin, ever accommodating, tries to make himself as small as possible to fit Changbin into his side, letting his arm rest lightly around the older boy's shoulders so he isn't just folding himself up like origami, his long legs already squished as it is. Changbin, Jisung notes with amusement, doesn't seem bothered by his close proximity to Hyunjin judging by the pink dusting on his cheeks, although Hyunjin seems oblivious to it. 

Halfway through the car ride Felix makes Hyunjin laugh, and although Jisung's a _little_ biased and thinks Minho has the cutest laugh in the world, Hyunjin's is a close second. His laugh fills the car and he leans into Changbin's side, making him jolt and turn an even brighter red. 

Jisung turns to Minho, catching him looking up at the boys in the backseat in his mirror before he notices Jisung's eyes on him. Sparing a glance at him for a moment, he quirks his eyebrow up and smirks before turning back to the road, clearly seeing what Jisung is seeing. 

Minho doesn't offer to pay for the whole group's breakfast anymore, Jisung's pleased to note. Although honestly that might just be because he can't reasonably do it now that Changbin's joined them as well. Oh well. Anything to get him to stop martyring his wallet for the sake of Jisung's friends liking him. 

And they do like him, that's the thing. 

Minho gets along swimmingly with the other boys. He bickers with Seungmin a lot, their personalities clashing in a friendly manner. With Felix, he lets the other boy rattle off as many questions as possible, always willing to answer. His dynamic with Hyunjin isn't as loud as the other two, but Hyunjin asks Minho well thought out things that Minho has to stop and think over before answering, a contrast to the way he answers Felix nearly as quickly as Felix asks. 

He's happy to see his friends getting along so well with Minho, almost like they've all known each other much longer than they actually have. 

And he thinks Minho's happy too, because sometimes he'll make the other boys laugh and turn to look at Jisung with a glimmer of pride in his eyes, almost like he's asking Jisung if he saw that. 

Breakfast with all of these people he's grown to love, all of them just sitting around laughing and eating and enjoying being together, is maybe one of the highlights of Jisung's year. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> geez guys i wonder if minho possibly likes jisung back boy howdy it sure is hard to tell isn't it


	3. afraid that my feelings for you will get caught (i approach and then step back)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Collision.

He's not sure quite when he gets in the habit of meeting Minho after his dance class most days and walking with him to the library for his shift. It's just something that seems to happen naturally, the two of them gravitating into each other's orbit more and more as time passes. Sometimes he stays in the library in his own little corner that Minho showed him months ago-- their little corner, he thinks to himself quietly sometimes, a self-indulgent little thought that he wouldn't dare voice out loud to Felix or Seungmin in the fear of sounding silly, much less to Minho himself-- and works. And he actually does work a lot now, despite how his friends tease him. 

He's grown fond of the library, beyond just Minho's presence. Sure, he's still not the best student and he still can't really study for shit, but he can appreciate that it's a good place to actually work through things he'd have trouble with in noisier places like the dorm. And besides, if Minho comes over to see him sometimes when there's a lull? Well, that's just the cherry on top. 

Sometimes he doesn't stay in the library with Minho though. He loves spending time with Minho, but he's found himself not needing to be glued to his seat in the library waiting for him at every moment. Sure, he still _cherishes_ every moment with the other boy. Sure, when he sees a text from Minho his chest feels like sunshine. Sure, he spends a good chunk of his time thinking about Minho in some way. Still, he feels almost… secure? In his friendship with Minho now. He knows that if he texts Minho or calls him or tries to get his attention in any way, more often than not Minho will drop what he's doing to talk to him. It's a warm feeling. 

So some days he walks Minho from his class to the library just because he can. 

And he kind of likes that he can do that. 

Today is one of those days. He has something planned with Felix, Seungmin, and Hyunjin later. Luckily he finished everything he has due, so he doesn't have the temptation to stay at the library beyond the usual promise of spending more time with his favorite librarian. And as appealing as that is, as always, he wants to spend time with his friends. So he finds himself waiting for Minho outside the building where his class is, every window and bush outside of it etched into his mind with familiarity by now. He could paint it from memory, were he an artist. 

When Minho comes out of the building with the flood of other students at his usual time and his eyes land on Jisung, he lights up and a big smile spreads across his face. Jisung loves Minho's smile. He loves that he can make him smile at all, especially like this. All of his smiles are nice, of course, and they all stir things in Jisung's chest, but this one-- the pure joy of seeing Jisung-- just makes everything seem so much lighter, like he could float away if he's not careful. 

He waves at Minho as the other boy approaches him, shoving his hands back in his pockets immediately as the biting cold wind sweeps across them. His face is surely bright red, and being happy to see Minho can only take partial responsibility for that. It's downright freezing today and the wind isn't helping. He's wrapped up in his big padded black jacket, his beanie, and the giant scarf he bought on impulse last year. It's downright ugly, a mottled mix of browns and oranges and beige. He loves it. 

Minho, however, simply wears his usual black athletic jacket he's been wearing since it got colder. It's definitely not suited for this kind of cold. 

Minho shivers, futilely trying to zip his jacket up despite it being as far up as it will go as he comes up to stand in front of Jisung. "It's so cold," he says, completely skipping the formalities of saying hello. They're well past the point of needing that with each other. 

"Why didn't you wear a heavier jacket?" He tilts his head. Seungmin actually popped in this morning to remind him and Felix to wear their padded jackets after he saw the weather. And to deliver a cheek kiss to Felix, which Jisung had gagged at jokingly. 

("You don't get to gag when we've had to listen to you pine over your librarian for the past four months like a cheap romance novel heroine without actually doing anything about it," Seungmin had told him from where he'd sat down on the edge of Felix's bed across the room. 

Needless to say he'd made note not to gag at them as a joke. Also to not get on Seungmin's bad side, because the boy's words had been fairly lukewarm but he still felt incredibly called out. He really didn't want to know what it would be like to be on the end of his scathing words.) 

But back to Minho, who is currently shooting him a dirty look. "It wasn't this cold when I left." 

"You didn't check the weather," Jisung says in a light tone, a little smile playing across his lips. He says it as if he checked the weather instead of Seungmin being his and Felix's designated weather boy in charge of keeping their dumb asses from dying of hypothermia. Bless Seungmin, really. 

"Shut up," Minho shoots back, and Jisung's smile widens. He doesn't usually tease Minho, but when he does the other boy's always so pouty. He's cute. 

A particularly harsh wind sweeps across the courtyard, picking up scattered leaves and loose litter. It hits against them like the crash of ocean waves, stinging their cheeks and making their eyes water. Minho, almost entirely exposed to the cold, grits his teeth so hard Jisung swears he hears them grind together. 

Suddenly he cares less about teasing him and more about Minho not getting sick. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He knows the real answer, and he knows what Minho's going to say before he actually does. 

"I'm fine," Minho manages between chattering teeth. "It's cold but I'll deal with it." 

"Minho," he says, and he can hear the concern in his own voice. From the way Minho's eyes soften, he must hear it too. "I don't want you getting sick." 

"Sungie," Minho says, and oh, he wishes the way Minho says that nickname didn't make his chest tense that way it did. He's just gone, isn't he? Completely gone. "Don't worry about me, okay?" 

"Even just walking to the library like this you could catch something," he presses. "And it's only going to get colder when the sun goes down." 

"My car is in the student parking lot right by the library, Jisung," Minho reminds him, obviously trying to ease his nerves. 

"Still," Jisung says, and when the wind rears up again and Minho trembles he can't help but bite his lip. 

In a moment of impulse, he unties the scarf from around his neck. Minho just stares at him. 

"Sungie?" Minho looks at him, confused. 

"I," Jisung starts, then shuts his mouth again. Well, he started this didn't he? He might as well look like an idiot by just doing it instead of backtracking now. 

Instead of finishing his sentence or asking Minho, he simply takes a step closer to him, close enough that their breath mingles together in the freezing air. Minho's eyes go wide as saucers and before he can chicken out, Jisung reaches up and wraps his ugly scarf around Minho's neck, pulling slightly so Minho has to lean down closer to him and he can tie it easier. It bring's Minho's face closer to his, closer than it's ever been, and Jisung forces himself to stare at his own hands as they knot the scarf so it's secure. 

"There," he says finally, his hands still lingering on his scarf-- on Minho's chest. "Now you're at least a little warmer." 

Minho doesn't say anything, not even a thank you. Suddenly feeling very scared, Jisung's eyes dart up to meet Minho's and he realizes very quickly that he made the right choice in not looking earlier, because Minho really is _right there_. His eyes are wide as they look at Jisung, lips parted in a little expression of shock, his face tilted down. He hasn't moved from where Jisung pulled him, and he's so incredibly close. Close enough that if Jisung wanted (he does want, god, does he want), if he was brave enough (he's a coward), he could tilt his head up and just-- 

Jisung laughs nervously, releasing the hold he has on his scarf and taking a step back, unable to stop the impulse to ramble to try to break the silence, to move away from the suddenly tense atmosphere he just created on accident. "It really is cold though, you know? It's just freezing. I mean, this happens every year, but I always forget how fast it happens and how hard it hits. So don't forget your jacket from now on, okay? That's really bad for you and-- and you make me worry." 

Minho blinks rapidly then, Jisung's rapid fire words seeming to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. "Ah, I'll try to remember, Sungie." After a pause, he adds, "I never want to make you worry." 

His heart stops, just for a moment. 

_What an idiot you are, Han Jisung,_ he thinks, as he lets this pretty boy turn him to putty in his hands at such simple words. 

"Well," he says, and his voice comes out higher pitched than he means for it to. He's sure he must be bright red by now, but Minho's face is flushed from the icy wind, so he hopes he just blends right in and Minho assumes he's red from the cold just like he is. "Well, then you need to take care of yourself, okay?" 

"Okay." Minho's voice is gentle. 

"Well, then let's get going! You have a shift and I have my movie night and it is very cold and we're both going to get sick, scarf and jackets or not, if we keep standing here!" And with that, Jisung grabs onto Minho's arm and starts pulling the other boy down the familiar path they've walked down together countless times, praying the cold air cools his hot face. 

 

\---

 

Saturdays and Sundays are Jisung's days for catching up on sleep. He'll crash late on Friday night and wake up at noon at the earliest, at the latest-- well, whenever Felix wakes him up. His roommate is loud, after all, so it's like he has a built-in alarm clock. 

It's not like it's a secret how bad his sleep schedule is. Sometimes he has relatively normal days, but often he'll get two or three hours after losing track of time and just go about his day on that. Hyunjin tells him he doesn't understand how he can survive on that, but honestly Jisung's used to it. As long as he gets to crash for like twelve hours at the end of the week he's good. 

So when his phone ringing wakes him up out of a dead sleep on Sunday morning and he slowly raises his head up from where it was smashed into his pillow to find that the digital clock on his nightstand says it's only ten in the morning, he's just grateful he's too exhausted to scream in frustration. 

He seriously considers just denying the call or letting it ring, but he doesn't want to run the risk of them just calling back. Besides, he kind of wants to chew whoever it is out. So with a grunt of annoyance, he reaches over and swipes accept without looking at the caller id. 

"What do you want?" Jisung snaps, voice groggy. 

"Wow, is that any way to talk to your dear friend?" Minho replies in an amused tone. 

Jisung immediately sits up in bed, clutching his phone to his ear. "Minho?" 

"That's my name! And yours is Jisung. I'm glad we both know each other's names." 

"Why are you calling so early?" he asks, reaching up to touch his face and grimacing when he realizes that he drooled all over himself. Embarrassed, he frantically wipes it off as if Minho can tell from over the phone that he has dried drool across his cheek. 

"Early?" Minho repeats slowly. "Jisung, it's twenty past ten." 

"That's early on Sunday," he says. "I don't really like when people interrupt my beauty sleep, you know. Even you." 

"Even me?" Minho laughs, and hearing his own words said back to him makes him flush. "Oh, am I special to you?" 

"You just woke me up out of a dead sleep," Jisung says with a pout, shoving his hair out of his eyes. "Don't try to psychoanalyze me." 

"Awfully defensive for someone who refuses to answer my question, so I'll take that as a confirmation that I'm special." 

"Shut up," he grumbles, propping himself up against the wall. A lazy glance around the room tells him that Felix isn't there, but he's not really surprised. It's not unheard of for Felix to take morning jogs around campus or to head to the studio to practice dancing. 

"You know I can't do that," Minho says in a sing-song voice. "Anyways, aren't you curious about why I called you?" 

"I did just ask why you called, so yes." He reaches up and tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. 

"Well, I'm glad you asked! I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out." 

He perks up at that. "Where are we going?" 

"Oh, you didn't even have to think if you wanted to or not. I love that." 

Jisung just rolls his eyes and he hopes his complete silence conveys that over the phone. 

Minho continues, "And honestly I don't really want to go out besides coming to pick you up. I was thinking that maybe you could come over to the apartment and we can watch movies or dramas or something together. You know, just hang out." 

"That sounds really nice," Jisung admits. 

"I knew you'd want to. So we're on for today?" 

"Sure," Jisung agrees, failing to stifle a yawn. "When are you coming to pick me up?" 

He hears Minho laugh. "I'll tell you what, Jisung. I'll come get you around two. That way you can go back to your beauty sleep." 

"I love you," Jisung says instantly, and Minho laughs again. 

"I love me too," he agrees. "Set an alarm. Make sure you don't sleep through it." 

"I will," Jisung says. 

"Great. I'll call you when I'm on my way out. Sweet dreams, Sungie." 

 

\---

 

Jisung hasn't actually spent that much time at Minho and Changbin's apartment, not really. Sure, it's usually a pitstop for him and Minho between school and wherever they're hanging out, but they haven't really ever just hung out together here as their main event. Usually it's just him popping in to say hi to Changbin while waiting for Minho to get ready before they head out. 

Changbin's at work today though, so Minho and Jisung claim the couch for themselves for once. 

Minho sets up his laptop on the table in front of them, him on one side of the couch and Jisung on the other. They debate movies to watch for a while, clicking through their options before Jisung suggests a drama he's been meaning to watch for a while. Minho lights up when he hears the name, telling him that he's been planning to get around to it too. 

With that, it doesn't take long before they've both settled back in their respective corners as the drama plays. 

It's good, just like Jisung guessed. A romcom with a mystery subplot. Both the main actress and her love interest are attractive and likable, which gets points in Jisung's books. All too often romances are stiff, the characters unlikable. Jisung wants to root for love, of course, but sometimes shows make that hard no matter how much they push a couple. Luckily that's not the case here, and judging by Minho's reactions he feels the same. 

There is one problem though. Not with the drama, but specifically with how he's seeing it. 

"There's kind of a glare," Jisung says after a while, when he's invested in the show enough that he can't ignore it any longer because it's a pain. "Can you turn it a bit?" 

Minho snorts. "If I turn the screen then I'll get a glare instead. You're having trouble seeing because you're all the way on that end of the couch. Just come closer." 

"Why can't _you_ come closer to _me_?" Jisung shoots back instantly, mostly because the concept of moving closer to Minho on this couch makes him a little shy and he figures that if he's enough of a shit about it, Minho will drop it. 

How stupid of him, because he should know better by now. 

Minho just rolls his eyes, reaching across the couch to grab Jisung by the arm and tug him over with a squeak until Jisung's fitted against Minho's side, Minho settling his arm around Jisung's shoulders. "Don't be a baby. Is this so bad?" 

Jisung wiggles, overwhelmed with Minho's proximity and the press of his body against his side. The anxiety part of his brain is yelling for him to move before he makes a fool of himself, meanwhile they gay part of his brain is-- 

Well. The gay part of his brain is telling him that this is exactly the kind of thing he thinks about sometimes and he'd be an idiot to pull away. 

Gay brain wins. 

"Shut up," he manages, trying to get comfortable against Minho's side. 

Minho laughs but doesn't say much more. 

They go for quite a while like that, and after a bit Jisung doesn't even feel awkward leaning against Minho anymore. Three hours in, Minho declares they have to take a break and eat something. Jisung lets him order something off a takeout menu for him and while Minho takes care of that over in the kitchen Jisung scrolls through his phone. 

Much to his surprise, he gets a notification from Seungmin. 

 

**[Seungmin]  
hey**

**[Jisung]  
sup?**

**[Seungmin]  
did you remember to check your grades?**

**[Jisung]  
huh?**

**[Seungmin]**  
**that exam you did?**  
**that you worked really hard on with the new style of notes?**  
**felix and i bumped into sunwoo on the second floor**  
**he said the grades for it are in**

 

Jisung feels something drop in his gut. 

Of course. Of course it would go up now when he's having a nice night with Minho. 

Nothing can ever go right for him, can it? 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**oh fuck really?**  
**i'm with minho right now**

**[Seungmin]**  
**oh**  
**sorry i didn't mean to interrupt**

**[Jisung]**  
**no it's okay he's ordering takeout right now**  
**besides it's good to know**  
**thanks for telling me**

**[Seungmin]**  
**of course**  
**and jisung?**

**[Jisung]  
**yeah?** **

****

**[Seungmin]**  
**no matter what you've worked really hard, okay?**  
**i believe in you**

**[Jisung]**  
**thanks seungmin**  
**that means a lot**

**[Seungmin]**  
**you're welcome**  
**love you or whatever**

**[Jisung]  
**love you too or whatever** **

****

 

"Who you talkin' to?" 

Jisung glances up from his phone, finding Minho hovering next to him with a little smile. 

"Seungmin," Jisung says, locking his phone to turn his full attention to Minho. 

"Ah, my favorite little shit," Minho says fondly, scooting Jisung over a bit so he can reclaim his corner of the couch. After he settles, he lightly hooks his hand around Jisung's arm and gives a little tug so Jisung's leaning against him again. 

"I thought I was your favorite little shit?" Jisung says, turning to look at Minho with his bottom lip jutting out. 

Minho just looks at it with a raised eyebrow. "Haven't I made it clear that you're in your own category, Sungie?" 

Jisung snorts, letting the pout fall from his face. "Nice save." 

"It's what I'm good at," Minho says. "What's Seungmin texting you about?" 

"Oh," Jisung says, and he can't help the way his voice drops, his stomach churning. Minho must notice because his brow creases. "He was telling me he heard from a friend that the exam I took had the grades posted today." 

"Oh," Minho echoes, tilting his head slightly. "Are you gonna check?" 

"I'm kind of scared," Jisung admits. 

Minho slides his arm so it's hooked through Jisung's, reaching over with his other hand to gently rub it. His hands are warm even through the fabric of Jisung's sleeves. "Why?" 

"I don't know," Jisung says with a little shrug. "I guess today's just been a good day so far, and I really tried hard to do good on that exam, so if I check my grades and find out I did badly on it I'll just-- I like having fun with you, you know? I don't want to be a complete buzzkill if I failed." 

"I don't care if you're a buzzkill," Minho says lightly. After a moment of thought, he adds, "Well, I do care because I don't like when you're upset, but it's not like I need you to be happy all the time or I'm not going to want to be around you." 

"Still," Jisung says, locking and unlocking his phone the way he sometimes does when he's nervous. Fiddling. Minho notices-- of course Minho notices, he always does-- and reaches out to put a hand over Jisung's, stilling him. 

"I have a proposal," Minho says. 

"I'm too young for marriage," Jisung says, and Minho scowls at him. 

"Funny," he says, before continuing. "How about you wait to check until the food gets here and we eat. That way you can at least eat before and prepare yourself. After you check your grades, you can tell me whether you wanna stay here and keep hanging out or if you want me to bring you home. I'll do whatever makes you feel more comfortable." 

Slowly, Jisung nods. "Okay. That sounds like a plan." 

Minho expression softens. "Good." 

And it is a good plan, Jisung thinks twenty minutes later as the two of them chow down on the couch. Minho keeps him talking, knowing Jisung functions best when he's anxious if he keeps his brain working and mouth moving. The food certain doesn't hurt either, especially not when Minho did a good job of picking out something Jisung likes. Every once in a while Minho will offer his takeout box to him and let Jisung stick his chopsticks in and take food out, rolling his eyes on principle as if he's not the one who keeps offering. 

Eventually though, they run out of food. Jisung slows down immensely when he realizes he's almost done, finishing after Minho does for what he thinks is the first time since the two of them met. Minho obviously notices-- it's hard not to when Jisung's usually such a vacuum when it comes to food-- but to Jisung's relief he doesn't call him out on it, just keeps talking to him while he picks away at it. 

He keeps his phone open on the gradebook while Minho cleans up, staring at the screen but not wanting to click on his class to see it. 

When Minho sits back down on the couch next to him, he wraps an arm around Jisung loosely and says, "Okay, deal's a deal." 

"What if I fucked up?" Jisung asks quietly, his heart in his throat. 

"What if you didn't?" Minho counters gently, giving Jisung's shoulder a little squeeze. 

God, Jisung wishes it was that simple to dispel he fears. Still, he agreed to check after eating. He certainly isn't going to break his promise to Minho. 

"I need to be standing," he mumbles, his legs aching. "I need to-- I need to move." 

Minho pulls his arm back and lets Jisung get to his feet, watching him take a few steps away. He appreciates that Minho humors him, knowing that Jisung vents his nervous energy by moving. 

Holding his breath as he bounces from foot to foot, he taps on his class and watches as his overall grade and the last added score. 

"Fuck," he says, staring down at the screen with wide eyes. 

"Fuck?" Minho repeats, blinking rapidly up at him. 

"Holy fuck," Jisung says, because that's all he can think to say at this point. Minho is staring at him in concern now, so he wordlessly turns his phone around. Minho leans forward from where he's sitting on the couch to read. 

When Minho's face lights up, Jisung can't help the goofy smile from spreading across his own. 

"A ninety-six percent," Minho says, looking up at Jisung with a smile that reaches all the way up to his eyes, turning them into pretty crescent moons. "Have you ever gotten that high in that class before?" 

"Not on an exam before!" Jisung says excitedly, and he can't stop the laugh from bubbling up halfway through his sentence. He reaches up and runs his fingers through his hair, pushing it back off his forehead as he tilts his head back and takes a deep breath through his laughter, the weight of his anxiety dissolving as it's replaced by pure, unadulterated joy. "Minho this is just so-- I'm so-- _fuck_." 

Minho giggles and the playful sound Jisung adores so much just makes him smile more, his face feeling like it's practically going to split in two when Minho gets to his feet and reaches out to him, grabbing Jisung into a big hug. 

"I'm so proud of you!" Minho sings, and Jisung laughs in shock when Minho lifts him up off his feet. 

"Minho!" Jisung shrieks as Minho spins him around in a circle, clinging onto him for dear life as they both giggle. "Don't drop me!" 

Minho just laughs harder in response, setting Jisung down on his feet again. Before he can react, Minho grabs him by the hands and yanks, sending them both toppling back onto the couch together, a mess of limbs as Minho wraps himself around Jisung to hold him still. 

"Minho!" Jisung squeaks as Minho practically tugs him halfway onto his lap, snaking an arm under Jisung's and wrapping around his waist. 

"I knew you'd do good," Minho says earnestly, his eyes glittering like starlight as he looks at him. "You've been working so hard and I just knew-- I _knew_ \-- that you could do this." 

"Then you knew more than me," Jisung says breathlessly, his giggles finally dying out as Minho tightens his grip on him. 

"You just doubted yourself," Minho says. "I knew you were smart from the moment I met you. Smart, and clever, and witty--" 

"Those are the same things!" 

"--and a hard worker who can do anything once he commits himself to doing well," Minho says, blowing right by Jisung's interjection. "You psyched yourself out but I knew you'd figure it out. You just needed a little help." 

"I needed _a lot_ of help," Jisung corrects. 

Minho shrugs, shifting Jisung a little in his arms so Jisung's practically laying across his lap now. Minho fingers brush against the back of his Jisung's neck, making him shiver. "So what? That's okay. We all need help sometimes." 

Jisung thinks that over for a moment before admitting, "I guess you're right." 

"I am," Minho says firmly, looking down at Jisung with a smirk. "I'm always right. You should know this by now." 

Jisung snorts. "I should, shouldn't I?" 

His smirk softens back into a smile. "So with that settled, I guess I should ask you if you want to stay here or if you want to go home and celebrate." 

Jisung just smiles up at him, his body still coursing with energy. "Why would I go home when we left off at such juicy cliffhanger in our show?" 

Minho laughs. "You're right, you're right." 

"See? I'm right sometimes too." 

"Sometimes." 

He expects Minho to let him up then, let him shift over into his own spot to watch their show. Instead, Minho just leans forward across Jisung to tap away at his laptop, starting up the episode they left off on before falling back against the couch. 

Jisung blinks up at him in confusion, still laying back across his lap. "Minho?" 

Minho hums to let him know he's listening. 

"Are you gonna let me up?" Jisung asks. 

Minho glances down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you want up?" 

Jisung pauses, thinking about it. No, he decides, he really doesn't. "No. Can I move a bit?" 

Minho raises his arms up, letting Jisung wiggles until he's more comfortable. When he's satisfied, Minho drapes an arm across Jisung's middle, his hand hanging down off the side of the couch. 

"What am I?" Jisung complains. "An armrest?" 

"Yeah, an awfully chatty one," Minho says. "Pipe down, I'm trying to watch the show." 

_"Pipe down, I'm trying to watch th--_ ah!" Jisung squeaks as Minho's hand pokes at his side where he's ticklish. "Sorry, sorry!" 

"That's what I thought," Minho sings, turning his attention back to the show. 

And the thing about laying in Minho's lap, Jisung's surprised to note, is that he's not all that nervous. He thinks maybe he should be, considering how he feels about Minho, but there's just something so easy about the way they fit together on the couch like this. It's hard to be anxious about anything, even Minho himself, when the way Minho holds him makes him feel safer than he's ever been. 

When Minho's hand brushes the back of Jisung's head again a while later, Jisung shivers, leaning into the touch without thinking. His cheeks warm when he realizes what he did, ready to pull away before Minho laughs softly under his breath and threads his fingers into the soft, short hair at the back of Jisung's neck. 

His eyelids immediately flutter shut at the feeling, all the energy left over from the high voltage charge of joy he got from seeing his grade leaving his body as Minho gently runs his fingers through Jisung's hair, leaving him completely drained like the aftermath of a sugar rush. He starts at the base of his neck, then slowly moves up, his short nails scraping lightly against Jisung's head in a way that sends tingles down his spine. 

"Are you petting me like a cat?" Jisung asks after a few minutes, eyes still closed and surprised at how drowsy his voice comes out. 

Minho's fingers leave his hair and he can't bite back a whine of disappointment. Minho lets out a huff of laughter before Jisung feels Minho's hand sweep the hair off his forehead and thread through the wavy bits at the top. A content sigh leaves his lips. 

"Stop acting like a cat then," Minho teases, his voice hushed. 

Jisung could argue, of course he could. He's good at bickering back and forth with Minho until they're both breathless. The problem is that it's impossible to think straight with Minho running his fingers through his hair, the sounds of the drama playing on Minho's laptop almost distant. 

_I'm definitely not a cat,_ Jisung thinks sleepily as he leans into Minho's touch, turning slightly so he's facing Minho more. The arm Minho draped over his middle shifts so his hand is resting lightly on Jisung's side, holding him so he doesn't roll off. _I'm nothing like a cat._

With that thought and the feeling of Minho's hand in his hair, Jisung slides into sleep. 

 

\---

 

"--I just can't believe you're this big of a softie." 

"Shut up." 

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I've known you weren't nearly as much of a bitch as you pretend to be for laughs since I met you, but I didn't think I'd ever see you so unbelievably soft." 

"I swear I'll dump this pot of coffee all over you right now if you don't shut up." 

"No, you won't. You love coffee more than you hate me." 

"...I hate when you're right." 

Jisung slowly opens his eyes at the sound of voices, squinting up at the ceiling. He doesn't know what the fuck Felix is watching on his phone, but he wishes his roommate would at least turn it down. He shifts slightly, intending to roll over and push his head under a pillow to muffle the sound before immediately freezing when he almost rolls off the side of what he _thought_ was his bed but most certainly is _not_. 

He braces his hand against the side of the bed-- no, couch-- as his sleep-addled brain tries to put together the pieces of how he woke up somewhere that isn't his own dorm room. 

"I'm just saying it's kind of cute, Minho." 

"And you're saying that because you like to push my buttons." 

"Well, yes. I'm your best friend, that's kind of my thing. But also I really do think it's cute." 

Oh, fuck. He fell asleep at Minho's. The unfamiliar setting suddenly clicks into place in his brain and he runs his hand along the side of Minho and Changbin's couch, staring up at the ceiling of their apartment as late morning light filters in through the curtains nearby, spilling sunshine onto Jisung and the table nearby where Minho's laptop is still sitting, closed. 

He didn't mean to fall asleep, he really didn't, but he'd just crashed so hard after the sudden energy high, and Minho playing with his hair had just felt so _nice_. 

"I mean, come on. You even tucked him in--" 

"It's _cold_ , I'm not going to let him sleep without anything," Minho interjects, and from their voices Jisung can tell they're over by the counter in the kitchen. 

It's then that he actually looks down and realizes that there is, in fact, a blanket over him that wasn't on the couch last night. Huh. Minho did this? 

Changbin laughs only for Minho to hush him. After a moment, he says, "You really like him, huh?" 

Minho sighs. "Yeah." 

Warmth stirs in his stomach. It's not like he didn't already know Minho likes him or anything. After all, they've spent all this time together, it's not like Minho would do that with someone he didn't like. So Jisung knows, of course he does. 

But the fact that Minho likes him enough as a friend that even Changbin comments on it? Yeah, Jisung would be lying through his teeth if he said that didn't make him happy. 

Is it the way part of his dreams about Minho liking him? No. But god, Minho's so important to him as a friend and the idea of Minho feeling a fraction of the same way about him is enough to make him feel all warm and fuzzy. 

In the kitchen, the other two change topics, talking about Changbin's work and how he still has to fill in for the shithead who keeps missing shifts that they won't fire. Jisung would feel weird getting up right away after they were just talking about him, so he lies on the couch blinking the sleep from his eyes as he thinks over-- 

Well, as he thinks over Minho. 

It's funny to Jisung that this all started as a one-off in the library, a meet cute with a pretty librarian that's turned into something so much more than that. In another universe that might've been all it was: he almost hits the cute librarian with his pencil, the librarian comes over and says hi, Jisung thinks he's pretty, and he has a fleeting crush before moving on in a week. The end. 

Jisung's really glad that's not where their story ended. 

Instead, Minho had been so funny and sweet and attentive, Jisung had no choice but to become his friend. Jisung had no choice but to love him. 

And that thought hits him like a freight train as he lies on Minho's couch looking up at his ceiling, Minho and Changbin's voices like background noises to him. 

He loves Minho. Part of him has known that for a while, obviously, but he didn't really mean it seriously. Or at least he didn't think he did. And it's such a strange new feeling to know that he loves someone-- not just a crush, not just _feelings_ , but love-- that for a few minutes he's just left completely bewildered. 

"You could always quit and just apply for a job at the library," Minho suggests, and Jisung reaches up to rub at his eyes as he tries to block out the rush of thoughts about how much he loves Minho's voice. 

"What, and see your face even more? No thank you." 

"Suffer then." 

"Oh, I will." 

God, he can't just lay here anymore. He has to-- he has to get up, he has to move, he has to-- fuck, he doesn't know, but the idea of laying here any longer is enough to drive him crazy. 

Jisung slowly sits up. When he stretches it's not for show, even if he's been awake for a while, mostly because there's a part of his shoulder that's a little stiff from the way he was laying on it. 

"Oh," Changbin says, "Sleeping Beauty's awake. Prince Charming didn't even have to kiss him." 

He isn't facing the two of them yet, but that's okay. He doesn't have to be looking at them to know that the dull smack he hears next is Minho hitting Changbin's arm, not when Changbin yelps the way that he does. 

Yawning, Jisung pushes the blanket off of him and gets to his feet, finding his balance again before slowly making his way over to the other two. They're both in sweats and long sleeves, both holding mugs. Minho has his glasses on, his hair ruffled like he hasn't brushed it yet. 

Jisung thinks it's adorable, which really isn't fair at all considering Minho just woke up not long before him and still looks this good. 

"G'morning," he says as he shuffles up to them, practically collapsing in one of the swivel chairs they have along the island. "Why didn't you wake me up?" 

Minho shrugs. "You just seemed so tired, I figured I'd just let you sleep and I could drive you home today. I didn't make you miss anything by letting you sleep in, did I?" 

Jisung shakes his head. "No, don't worry. My day's clear. I don't have classes until Tuesday." 

"Lucky," Changbin says with a sigh. "I have work today and then tomorrow I have another shift _and_ an early morning class." 

"Sucks for you," Jisung says, sticking his tongue out at Changbin who simply rolls his eyes. 

"No wonder you two get along, you're both gremlins," he says. 

Jisung reaches up and pokes his cheek, puffing them out slightly for maximum effect. "Me? But I'm so cute." 

"You're a brat is what you are," Changbin says. 

"Here," Minho says with a snort, holding a mug out to him. Jisung takes it without question. "I made this for when you got up. You'll like this better than our coffee." 

Blowing gently on it first, Jisung dares to take a small sip. It's hot enough where he can't exactly savor it yet, but he'd know that taste anywhere. "Hot chocolate?" 

Minho smiles fondly at him, raising his own mug to his lips and taking a drink. "You're over here enough that I figured I should just get you a pack of it to keep in the cupboard." 

"God, at least start pitching in on rent if this is gonna keep happening," Changbin retorts as he watches the two of them, but it has no real bite to it. "You're even taking up our grocery money now." 

Jisung just smiles down at his hot chocolate. 

 

\---

 

He stays with them for the rest of the day, the three of them messing around and finding new excuses to keep Jisung around. He doesn't really want to go home and it feels like Minho almost doesn't want him to go either. Changbin seems amused by it all but he doesn't object to it once before he leaves for work. 

Eventually though, Jisung does have to go home. He might not have classes on Monday and a late one on Tuesday, but the other two have classes _and_ work to juggle. As tempting as it would be to try to find a way to stay the night again, he doesn't want to impose. Last night was an accident, after all. 

Still. 

He watches Minho the whole drive back to the dorms. He just can't help it, not when the only thing on his mind on repeat is every moment he's spent with him. In particular, he's stuck on last night. Of how Minho picked him up and spun him, how he pulled him back onto the couch and held him. How Minho held his hand and told him how happy he was for him, how proud. How Minho ran his fingers through his hair. How Minho held him when he fell asleep, tucked him in with a blanket. How he bought him hot chocolate to keep at the apartment, like Minho expected him to be around enough that he'd need it. 

The last one is so silly, he hates that it's the one that makes his heart do flips. 

When they finally park in their usual place near the dorms, Minho turns to him with a smile. 

"Thanks for hanging out with me, Jisung," Minho says, tapping the steering wheel with his fingers. "Even if it did end up being a two day event unexpectedly." 

"Sorry about that," Jisung says instantly, and Minho shakes his head. 

"Don't apologize, I don't mind you sleeping over." After a moment of thought, Minho adds, "If you're ever too tired and our schedules are clear enough, you can literally just ask to stay over. You can take the couch." 

Jisung blinks in surprise. "Oh! I don't want to… impose or anything on you two." 

Minho snorts. "Please. We both love having you around. Changbin teased but he really doesn't care and, like I said, neither do I. You're never a bother." 

Jisung laughs softly, reaching up and brushing his hair out of his eyes. Minho's eyes follow his fingers. "Yeah, okay. Yeah. I'll keep that in mind." 

"Good," Minho says instantly, eyes glittering, "because I bought you a whole package of hot chocolate and you better be over to use it." 

"Oh, well obviously I'll be back just for that," Jisung shoots back. 

"Obviously," Minho agrees with a snort. 

They fall into a comfortable silence then, the two of each other just looking back at each other. Jisung really does love this, the way they can settle together in the warmth of quiet without the impulse to fill it needlessly. 

Minho just makes him feel so safe, so at peace. 

Which reminds him of something he's been meaning to say. 

"Hey," Jisung says softly, and he reaches out to tap at Minho's arm. 

"Hey what," Minho says back, and twists to tap the back of Jisung's hand with his own. 

"I just wanted to say thanks," Jisung says. "For being so… happy when I got that good score. And hyping me up and just.... being there for me. It really meant a lot, especially since you've been with me through the bulk of me trying to get better at studying for things like that." 

"I care about you," Minho says instantly. "There's nothing that makes me happier than when you're happy, Jisung." 

And he almost does it then and there, looking at Minho look back at him in this shitty little car that doesn't run the heat well in the middle of winter, the radio turned low so he can't make out anything but the low rumble of a man's voice. He almost tells him that he wakes up and sometimes his first thought is seeing his face. That he goes to sleep and sometimes his last thought is seeing his face. He almost tells him how much it means to him that he always listens, even when all he can say is a bunch of dumb nonsense. He almost tells him that there's no time he's happier than when Minho is by his side, that everything in his life just seems to click into place when he's with him. He almost tells him that he's one of his closest friends, that he's never met somebody who understands him so well. 

He almost tells him that sometimes he thinks about kissing him on the mouth. 

He almost tells him that he thinks he's one of his best friends, and maybe he's in love with him. 

He almost tells him a lot of things, but Jisung holds all the words on the tip of his tongue in and swallows them instead, offering Minho a shaky little smile. 

In the soft golden light of sunset that leaks in through the car windows, the fond smile Minho gives him in return is the most beautiful thing Jisung's ever seen in his life. 

 

\---

 

Minho goes home to visit his parents for the weekend and Jisung hates that the older boy's missing presence makes him feel so lonely. It's not like Minho doesn't talk to him-- quite the opposite, really. He's only gone for two days but it feels like Minho's spending all his free time texting him. 

It makes his chest do something funny that Minho's not even around and still taking so much time out of his day to talk to him, that he doesn't just forget about him as soon as he's home. He wouldn't mind, honestly. He knows Minho hasn't been home in a bit and he understands how much of a relief it can be to go home. 

So the fact that Minho still wants to talk to him while he's gone? Yeah. Yeah, maybe Jisung's chest feels like it's filled with warm, pulsing light every time he gets a new text. 

He does miss Minho though, as much as he feels kind of dumb admitting it. Seungmin and Felix are off doing couple stuff and Hyunjin's neck deep in the middle of working on a project. Chan would probably try to make time for him if he asked, but Jisung also knows Chan's extremely busy balancing work and school and barely has time to himself-- and what time he does have goes to Woojin, who's equally busy, and Jeongin. Jisung doesn't want to impose on Chan's already limited time. As for Jeongin, he's busy trying to graduate and lives nowhere near school, so he's out of the equation too. That last one makes Jisung particularly sad, mostly because despite being a year younger the two have always been close. The fact that they don't talk as much these days because of the distance and how busy they are sucks, and while Jisung knows it'll get better when Jeongin graduates and comes here according to his plan, waiting for that is still awful. 

So with Minho gone, he's left by himself in his dorm room all alone. It sucks, particularly because he's in the mood to be social but nobody's around. Minho said goodbye because he had to go somewhere with his family half an hour ago, so since then Jisung's just been scrolling absently on his phone. 

As if that's not bad enough, the dorm has been having heating issues, so not only is Jisung bored and lonely, he's also freezing cold. He's managed to stave a bit of it off by pulling on a pair of fuzzy socks and a sweater and then staying under his blankets, but the cold has definitely not helped his mood. 

Halfway through watching a video compilation of different animals being friends, he gets a text notification from Changbin. 

 

**[Changbin]  
yo**

**[Jisung]  
yo whats up man**

**********[Changbin]**  
**nothing**  
**which is kind of the problem**  
**the apartment is really boring**  
**without a certain pest around**

**[Jisung]  
real minho missing hours whos up**

**[Changbin]  
us, unfortunately**

**[Jisung]**  
**what a bastard for making us like him enough**  
**that we miss him when he's only gone for two days**

**[Changbin]**  
**you and i are on the same page**  
**awful man.**  
**but awful man aside**  
**how do you feel about coming over to the apartment**  
**and us hangin out**

**[Jisung]**  
**well im totally free**  
**so my feelings are:**  
**hell yeah!**

**[Changbin]**  
**hell yeah!**  
**oh my god**  
**you get to see my shitty little car**

**[Jisung]  
is it the little red one minho parks next to?**

**[Changbin]  
that's the one!**

**[Jisung]**  
**can you guarantee we won't**  
**like**  
**crash and burn on the way there?**

**[Changbin]**  
**absolutely not**  
**the fear of death is part of the experience**

**[Jisung]  
please get a better car**

**[Changbin]  
pay for it then bitch**

 

\---

 

Changbin, as it turns out, is fun as hell to hang out with one on one. It's not like they do anything spectacular, they just hang out on the couch and watch some movies on his laptop, but they get along great. They always have ever since they first met, but they haven't gotten the chance to really hang out one on one for an extended period of time. It's usually just them hanging out with the others or when Minho and Jisung stop by the apartment and Jisung talks with Changbin while waiting for Minho to do what he needs to do. 

They really do get along well. It's not the same way he gets along with Minho, or even Felix or his other dorm friends, but they click in a different, unique way. It's really nice. 

The thing is, about halfway through their second movie-- an awful low-budget ripoff that Changbin insists they watch for the humor of it all-- Jisung realizes that Changbin is giving him weird looks. At one point he opens his mouth like he's going to say something and then stops, closes his mouth, and turns away. Then a few minutes later he does the same thing. 

Ah, Jisung realizes suddenly. Changbin might've wanted to hang out, that's true, but obviously he has something he wants to talk to him about. 

"If you wanna say something to me, you can just say it," Jisung says with amusement, turning his head to look Changbin dead-on when he catches him staring again. Changbin immediately stiffens which makes Jisung snort. He's always been a bit upfront even if he's prone to being emotional and anxious. It's just with Minho and anything involving _serious_ feelings he gets shy. 

"Who says I want to talk to you about something?" Changbin says. 

"Well, I look forward to your explanation on why you keep looking at me then," Jisung shoots back. 

"Fine. Hey Jisung," Changbin starts slowly, tentatively. Like he's testing the waters. 

Jisung shifts on his side of the couch so he can turn to face Changbin more, giving him his full attention. Changbin pauses the movie on a rather unflattering shot of the leading man. "What?" 

"Can I ask you something?" 

"I can't get Seungmin to stop bullying you, sorry. But if it's any consolation that's kind of how he shows affection." 

"No, ah, not that. You don't have to answer if you aren't comfortable I guess but it's kind of been on my mind since I met you." 

Jisung raises his eyebrows. "What's that?" 

"Well, you and Minho seem pretty close," Changbin says. "You've only known each other for a few months but it feels like you two have never not been friends. Honestly, it feels like you two are as close as we are, and I've known him for a year and a half and live with him." 

Jisung waves his hands dismissively. "Ah, I'm sure that's not true." 

"No. It is," Changbin replies firmly. "No need to play coy, I'm not a jealous person. People can have more than one friend and even more than one best friend. I'm close with Minho but you two just… I don't know. It's like you're two pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly." 

"Thanks, I guess." Jisung squints, trying to figure out where this is going. "Is there… a question?" 

Changbin clears his throat. "Yeah. I've just been wondering, as Minho's friend-- and yours-- is that closeness just platonic, or… do you like Minho as more than that?" 

Jisung's thoughts immediately grind to a halt. 

For a moment, Jisung stops processing everything around him as his brain goes blank. Whatever he was expecting Changbin to ask him about, it certainly wasn't that. What comes next is his brain jolting itself awake again, and not just to it's normal self-- jolting itself into a panic. Jisung feels his breathing pick up, his finger getting twitchy. He didn't-- he genuinely didn't think Changbin would notice. He didn't care if his friends knew, they wouldn't tell Minho even if they tease Jisung about his crush. Changbin, however, is a wild card that Jisung can't predict. Minho's roommate. Minho's best friend. 

Someone who would definitely tell Minho if the guy he's been hanging out with has a big stupid crush on him, right? 

He should deny it, he knows, but Changbin caught him off-guard so badly that it's rendered him wide-eyed and tight-chested. He looks like somebody's who's just been found out. 

Jisung's fucked. He's completely fucked. 

Changbin must see the rising panic in Jisung's face, because his eyes immediately widen to match Jisung's as he quickly holds up a hand in the universal sign of 'it's okay'. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have jumped that on you. That's why I was scared to ask, I didn't want to freak you out!" 

"Don't tell him," is what Jisung finally manages to blurt out, his voice choked. "Please." 

"I won't," Changbin says instantly, still holding his hand up. "I promise. I promise I won't." 

"Wait." Jisung's head is starting to spin, a sure sign of an anxiety attack if he doesn't calm down soon. "Does-- if you know, does he know?" 

"Minho doesn't know," Changbin reassures. Seeing Jisung's panicked state, he immediately reaches out to the unopened bottle of water he sat on the table for himself and hands it to Jisung. 

Grateful, Jisung immediately unscrews the top and takes big gulps, squeezing his eyes tight and taking deep breaths. He is not going to have an anxiety attack in his crush's apartment in front of his crush's roommate. He is absolutely not going to do that. 

"I'm sorry," Changbin says again. "We don't have to talk about it. We can just pretend like I didn't ask, it's okay." 

"No," Jisung says after he manages to even out his breathing again, the swell of panic at least becoming manageable. Ignoring what Changbin just asked would be great in an ideal world, but Jisung's not dumb enough to think that would work. Pretending wouldn't stop Jisung from thinking about it every time he sees Changbin, wouldn't stop things from getting awkward. It sucks, but he's gotta be an adult and face his fears and actually talk this out. "We both know now, so we should." 

Changbin nods slowly. "Okay. So… you like Minho." 

"I like Minho," Jisung repeats slowly, and it's such a bizarre feeling to say those words sitting on Minho's couch, in Minho's apartment. Minho's not even here but the thought makes heat rise to his face. "Can I ask you something, then?" 

"Of course," Changbin says. "Whatever you want." 

"How," Jisung starts, then clears his throat. He plucks the pillow he's leaning against on the couch and pulls it into his arms, hugging it to his chest. "How did you figure it out?" 

Changbin gives a little shrug. "Honestly? It was always obvious to me from the first time I met you, and the more I saw you two together the more I was sure. The way you look at him like he's the most important thing in the room? Yeah, that's hard to miss. Also the way you light up when he says or does something nice for you. I just wanted to make sure I was reading things right. That's why I wanted to ask." 

"Oh," Jisung says, his voice squeaky. "Great." 

"It's cute, really," Changbin insists. 

"And obvious," Jisung says. "Were you… lying when you said Minho doesn't know?" 

"No," Changbin says right away. "No, he really doesn't know." 

"But you just said I was obvious," Jisung reminds him. 

"And for someone so smart, Lee Minho is sometimes as oblivious as a rock," Changbin scoffs. "Jisung, I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty that you would have to literally spell it out to him for that idiot to think you like him. You're safe." 

"That's good," Jisung says, but for some reason his chest still feels funny at Changbin's words. He's happy Minho doesn't know, of course, but… 

But some part of Jisung almost wants Minho to know, because even if Minho doesn't feel the same, if he's known about Jisung's feelings and kept treating him the way he always has, that means that he doesn't think Jisung's weird. It means he's okay with it, and Minho not being weirded out by Jisung's feelings even if he doesn't return them... 

It's a stupid thought. 

"I just wanted to say, it seems more serious than just a crush to me," Changbin notes lightly. "It seems like you have really genuine feelings for him." 

Jisung clutches the pillow tighter. " _All_ of my feelings for Minho are genuine, not just… the romantic ones. I really do like him. That's why I don't want to mess things up. I don't want to let me being stupid get in the way of us being friends because he's just-- he's really great and I love being his friend! I don't care if I'll never be with him in the way I think about sometimes, that's not what's important to me. What's important to me is that he's just… there. And that he likes me and isn't weirded out by me." 

He realizes that he's rambling but he can't stop, not until the confession falls off his lips. "I just don't want to lose him." 

He feels like a fucking idiot as soon as the words leave his mouth, and he buries his face in his hands. 

From next to him on the couch, Changbin sighs. "You're not going to lose Minho, I can tell you that much." 

"You don't know that," Jisung mumbles. 

"He's my best friend, I know him," Changbin says firmly. "Jisung, he wouldn't be weirded out by you. I'm not saying you have to confess or anything if you don't want to, I just want you to know he wouldn't drop you if he found out." 

"Please don't tell him about anything I said," Jisung begs again, raising his head up to look at the other boy. 

"I won't, I won't, I already promised I won't," Changbin reassures, and maybe with someone else Jisung would doubt that, but Changbin just seems so… honest. "I'm not really about getting into people's business. Even this was a lot more than I usually do, but I just… I don't know, I needed to get a read on the situation." 

"And what's your read on it?" Jisung asks warily. 

"Mmm," Changbin hums thoughtfully, thinking it over. "You remind me a lot of this friend I have, I guess. He's had a crush on one of our friends for months, but he's not good with feelings. So even though he thinks there's a chance our friend might feel the same way, he's scared of putting himself out there because he's afraid of getting hurt and losing that friendship." 

"Your friend sounds stupid," Jisung says, a little bitterly, and Changbin snorts like he knows Jisung isn't really talking about the friend. 

"Oh, he is. But he's also scared to lose his friend, and I think that's understandable, even if it means he's avoiding something that needs to be talked about eventually." 

"I wish it was that simple to just talk about it," Jisung complains. "Things would be so much easier if I could tell him and not have to worry about it making things awkward. Just… look him in the eye and say 'hey I kind of like you in a not so platonic way and you don't have to like me back because I care more about our friendship than risking it all on feelings you might not reciprocate but I think it would be nice if you knew so you could just tell me how you feel and we can get this settled'. Like, that would be great." 

"I mean… technically you could, in fact, tell him that," Changbin points out. 

"And I'd probably have an anxiety attack halfway through, which isn't exactly very romantic," Jisung says dully. 

Changbin gives him a sympathetic look. After a moment of silence, he says, "You really do like him, don't you?" 

"Of course I do," Jisung says instantly, managing to look Changbin directly in the eyes for the first time in a while. "He's really important to me and when I said his friendship means more to me than my own feelings for him, I meant it." 

"That's really sweet," Changbin says quietly, face softening as he looks at Jisung. "Can I tell you something that might make you feel better?" 

"Sure," Jisung says, shifting on his end of the couch and hugging the pillow tighter. 

"Minho cares just as much about your friendship as you do," Changbin says slowly, like he's picking his words carefully. "He really likes you and enjoys spending time with you. Even when you're not around, he still talks about you a lot." 

Jisung blinks. "He does?" 

Changbin nods. "Yeah. He talks about what he wants to do next time you hang out, or what you guys did together. Or sometimes he just talks to me about something you said or did that made him laugh or caught his attention-- and a lot of things you say and do catch his attention, that's the thing. He pays a lot of attention to you and he does that because he cares about you." 

It's not like Jisung hasn't realized Minho pays attention to him before. That much is obvious in everything Minho does to him, from the way he'll switch the music in the car to something Jisung likes, to the way he'll order exactly what Jisung wants off a menu without Jisung even having to tell him, and to everything in between. He knows Minho cares about him and he knows Minho listens to him. 

Hearing him from Changbin makes his his stomach do flips anyways. 

"I wasn't kidding earlier about you two being close," Changbin continues. "I think he really does consider you one of his best friends now. I think…" He shifts slightly on the couch, his expression shifting to something Jisung can't quite place. "I think he loves you too. Well, I know he does. I obviously can't speak on any of Minho's feelings beyond that, but I can say with a fair level of certainty that he thinks you're one of his best friends and he loves you because of it. I know that won't make all your anxiety go away, but I hope it at least helps a little to know." 

Jisung slowly nods, his fingers plucking at the frayed end of the pillow he holds. "I think it does." 

Changbin visibly relaxes, a smile sliding onto his face. "That's good. Like I said, I'm sorry I jumped this on you." 

Jisung shakes his head. "No, if you knew then I guess I'm glad you talked to me about it. It… it does feel nice to know that he cares about me." After a moment, Jisung bites his lip, worrying it between his teeth. "Does that mean you're driving me home now?" 

Changbin blinks in surprise, tilting his head slightly. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, you invited me here to talk to me about that," Jisung explains, sitting the pillow against the couch again. "You've talked to me." 

"Jisung," Changbin says with a touch of amusement, "I didn't invite you here just to talk about this. I really did want to hang out with you. This was just something I've been thinking about for a while that I thought I might ask about while you were here." 

"Oh," Jisung says, and he can't deny the pleasant surprise he feels. He was certain that's why Changbin brought him here in the first place. 

"If I made things too uncomfortable and you don't wanna stay, I can take you home," Changbin offers. "But we are _kind of_ in the middle of an awful movie trilogy we were both enjoying and if you _aren't_ uncomfortable, I'd be totally fine with you staying and watching it with me." 

"Are you sure?" Jisung asks, because he wants to make sure Changbin isn't just doing this to be nice because he feels bad for asking about Minho. 

"Positive," Changbin says firmly. "I'll even split the tub of ice cream I got yesterday with you if stay." 

Jisung smiles then, and it's only partially at the offer of food. "Well, how can I say no to that?" 

"Exactly what I was thinking," Changbin says, grinning as he pushes himself up onto his feet. "You can hit play while I get the ice cream. It's not like missing two minutes of this disaster will make it make any less sense." 

"Will do," Jisung says as he leans over and starts the movie up again. Setting his elbow on the couch arm and resting his cheek against his hand, he watches Changbin walk to the part of the open area that doubles as the kitchen. He's definitely not upset at Changbin, that's for sure, but he can't help but feel the sudden need for at least a bit of payback. "Hey, can I ask you something back?" 

"That's only fair," Changbin answers, pulling a small tub out of the freezer. 

"Cool," Jisung says. "You thought about asking Hyunjin out?" 

Changbin splutters, turning on his heels to face an innocently smiling Jisung. "I-- w-- I don't know what you're talking about!" 

"So I have to tell you about my feelings for Minho but you don't have to tell me about why you've been giving Hyunjin heart eyes since you met him?" Jisung counters. 

"I haven't," Changbin retorts, underhand throwing a spoon at Jisung. He yelps when it comes near him, catching it but just barely. "You're seeing things." 

"Yeah, seeing the truth," Jisung says as Changbin plops back down on the couch next to him. 

"Is it so bad to look at another person because they're pretty?" Changbin pulls the lid off the tub, taking a spoonful for himself before holding it out to Jisung. 

"No, it's just very telling." Jisung takes a scoop himself. 

Strawberry. Not the kind Minho would usually get with him, but still tasty nonetheless. 

 

\---

 

The rest of the movie trilogy is, predictably, awful. Jisung has a blast anyways, mostly because he and Changbin have the same humor and enjoy making fun of how stupid the movies were. Despite the serious conversation in the middle, Jisung was surprised at how naturally him and Changbin slipped back into their easy company. 

Changbin drops him off back at the dorm around ten, and when Jisung gets his door open he's greeted by Felix absently scrolling away on his phone over on his bed. 

Felix flashes him a peace sign. "Welcome back." 

"Good to be back," Jisung says, slipping out of his shoes and tossing his jacket off onto his desk chair. With a loud 'oof', Jisung flops down on his bed. "How was your day?" 

"Good," Felix answers cheerfully, a smile on his face. "Me and Seungmin walked down to that movie theater a few blocks from campus and caught a movie together." 

"Cute," Jisung says honestly. They really are adorable, as much as he teases them. "I watched some movies today too. Really bad ones though." 

"I thought Minho was home this weekend?" Felix says, tilting his head. 

Jisung pouts, rolling over to face his roommate. "Minho isn't my only friend, you know." 

"Could've fooled me," Felix shoots back teasingly, making Jisung stick his bottom lip out further. 

"It was Changbin, for the record," Jisung says after a moment. "We watched an awful ripoff trilogy because we wanted something to laugh at." 

"Ah, two lonely souls missing Minho," Felix says in a sing-song voice. 

Jisung throws one of the many pillows on his bed at Felix, who just cackles before tossing it back, knowing Jisung will start pouting soon if he doesn't have his complete nest of pillows. 

"Glad you had fun," Felix says eventually. 

"I'm glad I did too," Jisung replies, and he means it. The fact that today still ended up being enjoyable despite being confronted about his feelings for Minho is certainly a testament to his and Changbin's friendship. 

They settle into silence after that, Felix obviously absorbed in his phone yet again. 

When Jisung's phone lights up, he doesn't have to guess who it is. 

 

**[Minho]**  
**how was your day?**  
**pining away without me im sure**

 

Jisung rolls his eyes. Is it true? Sure. Does he appreciate being called out on it by the man himself? Not really. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**oh ive just been beside myself all day**  
**me AND changbin**

**[Minho]**  
**omg you hung out with binnie?**  
**what did you do**

**[Jisung]**  
**idk we just watched movies and listened to music**  
**and talked i guess**  
**nothing big we just hung out in the apartment**

**[Minho]**  
**i can't believe bin got a movie night with my sungie**  
**before i even got my second one in**  
**thats just not fair i had you first**

 

Jisung rolls to his side facing the wall so Felix doesn't have to see the dopey smile on his face. 

 

**[Jisung]  
**YOUR sungie?** **

****

**[Minho]**  
**you heard me**  
**you're my cute little squirrel**

**[Jisung]**  
**ashdsj**  
**shut up**

**[Minho]  
thinking about how i'm gonna poke your cheeks when i get back**

**[Jisung]  
leave my cheeks ALONE**

**[Minho]  
i thought you liked it when i fawned over your cute cheeks :(((**

**[Jisung]**  
**.**  
**fine.**  
**you may poke ONE**  
**just once**

**[Minho]**  
**yeah we'll see when i get my hands on you again ;)**  
**oops didn't mean to send that wink**

**[Jisung]  
yes you did**

**[Minho]  
yes i did!**

**[Jisung]  
awful**

**[Minho]  
you love me**

**[Jisung]  
**maybe i do** **

****

**[Minho]**  
**and i love you!**  
**seriously tho, did you have fun with bin?**

**[Jisung]  
oh yeah it was really chill**

**[Minho]  
hope you two didn't talk about me behind my back too much lol**

 

_Oh, nothing much,_ Jisung thinks as he bites his lip. _Just about how I have deep, serious feelings for you and I'm apparently obvious enough about it that literally every single one of our friends has noticed except for you._

He really does doubt Changbin would tell on him. That brings him a certain amount of relief. He really isn't mad at him. Really. 

Still, a small part of him can't resist being a bit of a shit, so he taps back his message to Minho. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**just about the time you fell in the shower dancing**  
**and changbin had to pull you out naked to make sure you were okay**

**[Minho]  
he told you WHAT now**

**[Jisung]**  
**oh yeah i have all the Hot lee minho dirt now**  
**it's nice knowing an insider**

**[Minho]**  
**i'm gonna kill him**  
**and you had the AUDACITY to repeat it back to me!**  
**han jisung you're far more of a little shit than you let on**

**[Jisung]  
you're just figuring that out now?**

**[Minho]**  
**what can i say?**  
**i've been blinded by you being a cute boy**

 

\---

 

He can't really say he's surprised when Minho asks to hang out the next Sunday, not when he pouted over Changbin getting a movie night with Jisung before he got another one. The surprise comes in the form of Minho asking to do it at Jisung's place instead. 

It's not like they've hung out here extensively, usually they like to go out. Them staying in is a new thing, after all. Minho's hung around for an hour or two before but never much longer than that, always dragging Jisung off somewhere in his car instead. 

So maybe he's a little nervous about having Minho over for longer than that. Just a little. 

"You didn't have to wait for me down here," Minho says when he walks into the dorm a few hours later, an amused look on his face when he spots Jisung sitting on the windowsill by the door playing on his phone. 

Jisung looks up at him with a big smile, pocketing his phone before getting to his feet. Minho's in his usual jacket, a beanie pulled over his hair and his glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. Ah. Jisung always forgets how good Minho looks in his glasses until he's right in front of him in them. 

"It's not like I had anything better to do. Besides, I was excited for you to come over," he says. 

Minho snorts, the two of them falling into step as they start up the stairs to Jisung's room together. "God, you're just like my cats when I used to live at home. I'd come back after school and they'd be waiting for me at the door." 

"Cats do that?" Jisung says in surprise. "I thought that was a dog thing." 

"Cats do it too," Minho explains eagerly, his voice and face lighting up the way they always do when Jisung prompts him to talk about his cats. It's cute. Adorable, if Jisung's being honest. "Or at least mine do. They weren't waiting at the door when I went home last weekend, of course, because they didn't know I'd be back. But when my family and I went out together and then came back they ran to the door to wait when they heard the car pull up." 

"That must have made you happy," Jisung says, shooting him a smile before turning his gaze back to the steps to make sure he doesn't trip down them and make a fool of himself. 

"It did!" Minho says with a laugh. "Ah, I missed them so much. My family too of course, but I at least got to call them and stuff while I was gone. All I could do for my cats was just look at pictures of them and bother my parents to hold their phones up to them so I could talk to them." 

The idea of Minho trying to talk to his cats over the phone is genuinely so cute that Jisung feels like his heart's about to explode. 

"I'm really glad you got the chance to go home for the weekend," Jisung tells him honestly as they reach his floor, easily tracing their way back to his room like they've done dozens of times. Except this time Minho's going to stay around for a while, Jisung thinks with nervous glee. Not just as a pitstop. 

"I am too," Minho agrees, before a soft smile spreads across his face. He moves a bit closer to Jisung, gently bumping their shoulders together. "I missed hanging out with you though." 

"I missed you too," Jisung admits, smiling back at Minho. Minho's face scrunches up the way it sometimes does when he really smiles, his eyes turned to crescent moons and his nose all cute, and Jisung could watch Minho smile like this for the rest of his life and be happy. 

He didn't bother locking the door so they don't have to wait for Jisung to fumble for his key. 

Minho slips out of his shoes and jacket quickly and in no time at all he's flopping backwards on Jisung's bed, spread out like a star with a dopey grin on his face. The way he's stretched out, the bottom of his black shirt rides up to reveal the smooth skin right above the waistband of his dark jeans. Jisung makes a point not to look at it as he sits down on the bed beside him, reaching over to where Minho put his bag so he can pull out his laptop and open it up. 

Well, he doesn't look _too_ much at least. 

He's only human, after all. 

"I left the tab up when I put it to sleep," Minho explains, not moving from where he's sprawled out across Jisung's bed. 

"Convenient," Jisung says as he types in Minho's password to unlock the laptop-- Minho's birthday, the same password he uses for his phone as he found out months ago when Minho tossed his phone at Jisung in the car while he was driving and had him look up something in his email for him. Sure enough, the laptop comes back to life on the description for the last episode of their drama they left off on. 

Minho pouts when Jisung forces him to roll over so he can prop up his pillows against the wall, making a comfortable little space for the two of them to lean against. His headboard isn't anywhere near big enough or comfortable enough to sit up that way and watch, so against the wall it is. 

He settles back into the pillows, the laptop on his thighs as he gets comfortable. Minho finally picks himself up from where he's laying and plops down beside him, their sides pressed together as Minho slides down until he's resting his cheek on Jisung's shoulder. 

"You ready?" Jisung asks, like the way Minho's settled against him as if he doesn't plan on moving anytime soon doesn't make it obvious. 

"Let's go," Minho says, giving him a thumbs up. 

Jisung hits play and lets himself relax into the pillows and Minho's side as the recap starts. 

The first episode isn't nearly as enticing as Jisung's expected it would be, especially not after the cliffhanger they left off on. In fact, it seems like an entire chunk of this episode is dedicated to a side character Jisung can't bring himself to care about even if he tries. A shame, since the rest of this show has been fantastic so far. He shrugs it off anyways. All shows have a worst episode, after all, even the best shows. 

And besides, the show itself is only a fraction of the reason Jisung was looking forward to this. The other more important reason is leaning against him, still using his shoulder as an extra pillow as he watches the screen. 

"This is a bad episode," Minho says after a while, and Jisung can't help but laugh in relief. 

"Oh good. I was worried maybe I just wasn't enjoying it because I don't like the sister's boyfriend," Jisung admits. 

"No, this is just boring," Minho agrees. "Totally throws off the tension they had building before this. It's like… they wanted to make you care about this guy but couldn't figure out how, so they did this instead, even if it means we don't get immediate answers about the cliffhanger." 

"Oh, those are death flags," Jisung says. "This dude's gonna die for angst." 

"You're right. Good work Detective Han." Minho holds up his hand to Jisung and he immediately high fives him. 

"It helps to have a partner like you, Detective Lee," Jisung says, making Minho snort. 

Sure enough, the episode ends with the boyfriend getting shot in front of the main characters, most likely to increase their drive to see the plot through. Neither Minho or Jisung are too sad to see him go, all things considered. 

"Hey," Minho says as the opening for the next episode plays. "Is it just me or is it really cold here?" 

Jisung reaches up and smacks his forehead. "Oh my god, did I forget to tell you?" 

Minho arches an eyebrow up at him, craning his neck to get a better look at his face. "Well, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, so yes." 

"The heating in the dorms has been fucked up for the past week. It hasn't been working at all." Jisung gestures down at his own outfit: the hoodie, sweatpants, and bright pink fuzzy socks. "That's why I'm dressed like this. It's been freezing here." 

"Oh, I thought you just liked cute socks," Minho says. 

"Oh, I do," Jisung admits. Minho snorts. 

"Well, that would've been nice to know before I came over so I could've worn a hoodie or something." Minho pushes against Jisung's shoulder with his. "I can't believe you're gonna freeze me to death with your forgetfulness." 

"I'm really sorry," Jisung says honestly, feeling bad now. 

Minho's face immediately softens, dropping his teasing tone. "It's fine, it's not that bad." 

Oh, it's absolutely that bad. Jisung lives here, he would know. Still, he appreciates the thought. 

"I can borrow you one of my hoodies if you want?" Jisung offers. 

Minho blinks up at him in surprise, a strange look that Jisung can't quite identify passing over his face. "Only if you're okay with it." 

"Of course I'm okay with it," Jisung says, moving the laptop off to the side and gently pushing Minho's weight off his shoulder. Much to his surprise, the other doesn't complain when he moves him, just keeps looking at him. 

Jisung pushes up off the bed and walks over to the little dresser shoved into the corner of the room, opening up the top drawer. He doesn't need to dig, what he's looking for is right at the top where he put it away an hour before when he'd panicked and put away all the clean laundry he'd left sitting in the basket when he realized Minho was coming over. 

He picks out his magenta hoodie and turns around, holding it up so Minho can see. "Is this okay?" 

"Isn't that your favorite?" Minho asks, staring at it. 

It is. He'd be lying if he said it wasn't the reason he picked it out. He shrugs and says, "It's my warmest one. Even if it's my favorite I don't mind borrowing it to you." 

The look on Minho's face changes, his lips parting slightly, but Jisung still can't pinpoint what exactly is happening there. Jisung hates when he can't read Minho's expressions. He's gotten absurdly good at it, even when the other boy's face tends to remain more neutral, so it is endlessly frustrating that Jisung can't figure out what's going on in Minho's head. 

"Thank you," Minho says finally, and Jisung just nods before handing it over to him. 

Jisung settles back down on the bed as Minho sits up to put it on, watching as he sticks his arms in before his head disappears under the fabric. He stretches to pull it on, the bottom of his shirt riding up so Jisung gets a clear view of Minho's stomach and the defined muscles from dancing there-- not in an aggressively muscular way, but defined enough that it makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter. He lets his eyes stay there for a moment as a brief indulgence before tearing them away to look up at Minho's head as it pops out the top of the hoodie. 

It's a perfect fit for Jisung which means it's a little small on Minho, the bottom of his black shirt peeking out from under it. He watched as Minho adjusts the collar and hood, then straightens the sleeves, taking a moment to inspect them. He doesn't say anything about the way Jisung's stretched out the sleeves by balling them up in his hands over the years, just pulls them up so they partly cover his own. 

The thing is, he looks really cute in Jisung's favorite hoodie. 

"How do I look?" Minho asks then, and whatever expression he wore before is gone, replaced by an easy, cocky smile. 

Jisung rolls his eyes, trying to pretend like seeing Minho in the familiar hoodie doesn't make him feel warmth in his stomach that's hard to define beyond raw affection. "You look okay, I guess." 

"That means I'm adorable," Minho says, reaching over to poke Jisung's cheek with one finger, a smile on his face. 

Jisung tries to hide his smile. It doesn't work, namely because Minho still has his finger pressed into his cheek and can feel the way it twitches like he's about to break into the stupidest smile. "That's your _one_ cheek poke I promised you. I hope you're happy with it." 

"Oh, I am," Minho confirms, pressing into the squishiness and mimicking a squeaky toy as he does so. The sound is ridiculous coming out of his mouth. 

Ridiculously adorable. 

"Okay, do you wanna watch our dramas or just keep poking my cheeks?" Jisung playing up the exasperation in his voice. 

"Hard choice," Minho says, poking again. 

"You are well past the one cheek poke," Jisung informs him. 

"You haven't stopped me," Minho shoots back with a grin. 

He's right. Fuck him. Fuck him for a lot of reasons, but especially for being so cute that Jisung doesn't mind Minho poking his cheeks so much. Still, he does have some shreds of pride left. 

Jisung shoos his hand away, earning him a pout. "Okay, I'll make the choice then. We're watching our drama." 

Minho keeps pouting but lets himself fall back against the pillows again, arms crossed. "You're so mean, Sungie." 

"Maybe I am," Jisung agrees, and flops back against the pillows himself, squeaking when he realizes Minho's arm has snaked underneath him. "Minho!" 

"What?" Minho says innocently, batting his pretty eyelashes at Jisung. 

With a huff, Jisung squishes back against Minho's arm so his friend makes a little noise. "Fine. You aren't getting your arm back then, asshole." 

"Sungie," Minho whines, but Jisung just ignores him and hits play on the episode again. 

Minho's arm does in fact fall asleep not long after, and as much as Jisung teases he's quick to let Minho have his arm back so he can shake it awake again. 

Not before he makes Minho beg all cutely, though. It's awful. Jisung loves it. 

After that, it's a pretty fast trip to them getting absorbed again. The one episode had definitely been a buzzkill, but after that's out of the way the shows seems to regain its momentum, pulling the two of them in just like it had originally. 

A few episodes in they take a break to run to the store for something quick and cheap to eat for dinner. On a warmer day they would've walked, but the winds of winter are pushing in and neither of them particularly feel like fighting against them, so instead they pile into Minho's car and drive the short distance instead. 

They eat dinner on Jisung's bed as they watch, Minho reaching over to pluck meat out of Jisung's bowl with a big grin. He's used to it. Besides, it's not as if he doesn't steal food from Minho either. 

And then they settle together, Minho resting his head against Jisung's as they watch. He absently breaks off pieces of the chocolate bar they got at the store, popping a few in his mouth and feeding the rest to Jisung, Minho's fingertips grazing Jisung's lips every time he takes a piece from him. It's such second nature for them now, Jisung doesn't have it in him to be shocked. It's kind of funny if he actually stops and thinks about it considering Minho often does much more mundane things that completely throws him into a frenzy. 

Case in point: the way Minho's lazily draped an arm around Jisung's shoulders, pulling him snug against his chest. He's careful not to put too much pressure on Minho's arm so it doesn't fall asleep again, the last thing he wants is for Minho to move it after all. Minho having an arm wrapped around him just fills him with so much warmth, and only a small portion of it actually comes from Minho's actual body heat. 

(Although that's nice too, especially in the freezing room.) 

Halfway through a particularly tense scene, Jisung can't stop his eyelids from drooping. At first it's just that, and he catches himself and shakes it off pretty quickly. But then it happens again, and this time his head slips forward, gently rubbing his cheek against Minho's as he goes, making them both startle and jump, Minho's arm tightening around him as Jisung forces his eyes open as he turns to look at his friend. 

"Are you falling asleep?" Minho asks, the surprise in his face offset by the amusement. 

"No," Jisung says, but it's probably not very convincing considering a big yawn happens halfway through. 

Minho's face crinkles up in silent laughter and he reaches over to brush the hair that's fallen forward into Jisung's eyes out of his face. Jisung's so sleepy that he simply leans into Minho's touch before he can think too much about it, earning him the prettiest giggle from Minho. 

"What a baby," Minho teases softly, brushing another piece of hair behind Jisung's ear. This feels nice. It reminds him of when Minho played with his hair on the couch. "Is it past your bedtime, Sungie? It's only-- oh." 

Minho's face shifts into a frown, which manages to shake some of the sleep out of Jisung's system as he turns and follows Minho's gaze to the clock over on Jisung's desk. It's twenty to midnight. 

"I didn't realize we went this late," Jisung says, startled as he turns back to Minho. 

"I didn't either," Minho admits. Then he laughs. "I guess we were both just… absorbed, I guess." 

"Yeah," Jisung agrees, because he was definitely absorbed in the drama. 

(And Minho's company, but that's neither here nor there.) 

Hesitation flickers across Minho's face, and _that_ at least is something Jisung knows how to spot in Minho when he sees it. He shifts, adjusting his arm around Jisung like he's thinking of pulling off but doesn't really want to. 

"We probably shouldn't stay up much longer, huh?" Minho says quietly, glancing between Jisung and the clock. 

He knows Minho's trying to talk himself into leaving and driving home and… honestly? Jisung can't help but feel bad at the thought of Minho going home this late. 

"Hey," he says, and gathers whatever courage he has in his shitty little body to ask the question that's suddenly popped into his head. He reaches out and gently tugs at the sleeve of Minho's hoodie-- Jisung's hoodie-- until Minho's looking at him with a curious expression. 

"What?" Minho says. 

"It's really late," Jisung says, shifting with anxious energy. He immediately realizes that's a mistake, his body pressed right up against Minho so he feels every movement. Minho knows how he moves when he gets nervous, and Minho seems to pick up on it now, moving to rest one of his hands lightly on Jisung's arm. 

Fuck. Why'd he have to know him so well? 

He doesn't say anything about it though, simply raises an eyebrow at him to let him know he's listening. 

"Well," Jisung says slowly. "I was just thinking that it's really dark and cold out right now, and I just… feel bad letting you drive home in that." 

Minho lets out a huff of laughter, the fingers that rest on Jisung's arm lightly moving against the fabric of Jisung's shirt in a reassuring way. "It's okay, Sungie. I'm an adult. I can handle a little cold and darkness." 

"I know you can, but it just doesn't sit well with me," he admits, and he watches as the amused look on Minho's face softens at his words. "I was just wondering if maybe-- and you don't have to if you don't want to-- I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to spend the night here and just go back in the morning?" 

There are very few times Jisung's ever seen Lee Minho speechless. Sure, he'll go for long periods of time without talking, but that's not him being speechless. That's just how he is. His brain's always working even when he's quiet and that's obvious enough from the way he'll be able to follow along with conversations he's been silent the entire time in. Minho can be quiet. 

By the way Minho's eyes go wide and his lips part in surprise, Jisung guesses that this is one of those rare times where Minho has been left absolutely speechless, his brain grinding to a halt. 

It's really cute honestly, and Jisung would appreciate it a lot more if only he wasn't nervous he just overstepped Minho's boundaries. 

"Like I said, you don't have to," he says again quickly after Minho just keeps staring at him. "I just don't like the idea of you having to drive home right now and-- and if you're comfortable with it I figured you could sleep over here, and I can take the floor--" 

"I don't want you to sleep on the floor," Minho says, seeming to come back to his senses with a shake of his head. 

"Well, there's only one bed because I can't offer you Felix's," Jisung explains. "You're my guest and it's my fault I didn't watch the clock, so I'm okay with giving you mine for the night and I can just take some pillows and a blanket and make do." 

"I'm absolutely not going to take your bed if you're going to be on the floor," Minho says, this time firmer. 

"You're my guest," Jisung insists. 

"You're my dumbass friend who just offered to let me sleep over because you were worried about me, I'm an asshole sometimes but I'm not going to take your bed on top of that too," Minho shoots back, tilting his head slightly. 

Jisung crosses his arms. "You're so stubborn. I'm literally offering you the better choice!" 

"And you're stubborn enough not to listen to me when I say I'm not making you sleep on the floor," Minho says, "so I guess we're quite the pair then." 

"Well the only other options are we both sleep on the floor or on the bed, so take your pick I guess," Jisung says with a sigh, shrugging as he says it. Surely that'll make Minho take the bed and put this to rest. 

"Then I guess we're both sleeping on the bed then," Minho says, and Jisung almost says thank you before he processes that Minho did not, technically, say he'd take the bed-- or at least not by himself. 

Jisung blinks, his annoyance falling away. "Wait, what?" 

Minho taps the bed with his fingers. "We can just share the bed then. You said it yourself, our only options are to both sleep here or on the floor. We're obviously too stubborn to let each other sleep on the floor, so that's out. So I don't know about you, but I'd much rather split the bed with you than both sleep on the floor." 

"I was joking," Jisung says in disbelief. He didn't realize Minho would take it seriously, he just thought it would make him hurry along and accept the bed. 

"I'm not," Minho says, gaze unwavering as he stares at him. 

Jisung gestures at his shitty little bed. "You know this is a really tiny bed, right? Like… there's not room here for two people to sleep with a lot of personal space." 

Minho waves dismissively at that. "I don't care. I don't want to sleep on the floor and I definitely don't want you to either, so I'll take being a bit cramped in a bed over either of those options." 

"I genuinely don't know how to argue with you on this," Jisung admits after a moment, and Minho's face lights up the way it always does when he wins one of their silly spats. 

"Good, because I won't take any more rebuttals. We're sharing the bed." And to prove his point, Minho picks up the pillows they'd been leaning against on the wall and moves them back to where Jisung usually keeps them before flopping back, folding his arms behind his head and smiling at Jisung smugly. 

"I don't like your face," Jisung says dryly, and that only makes Minho's smile get more smug, if possible. 

"Yes you do, stop lying." They stare at each other for a moment, Jisung exasperated and Minho cheeky, before Jisung sighs. 

"Fine, we'll share the bed," he relents, and Minho grins. "Just don't complain to me tomorrow if I kick you in my sleep." 

"Is that a warning or a threat?" Minho asks. 

"It's a promise," Jisung says. 

"Hot," Minho says, and Jisung leans over to whack him on the leg, earning hysterical giggles from his friend. Minho kicks at him then, not hard, and Jisung shoves at his foot to keep them away from him. After a moment of that, Minho pauses with a frown on his face, one leg still extended out towards Jisung while he holds Minho's foot. "These pants will suck to sleep in." 

"Oh." Jisung actually stops to take in Minho's pants for the first time in a while, looking over the black jeans. They look really nice on Minho's legs. That's… not a thought to be thinking about now. He shoves it away. "They might be a little short on you because you're taller than me, but I can borrow you a pair of sweatpants if you want." 

Minho's face transforms into a look of relief. "Please." 

"So you are staying?" Jisung asks just to be sure, setting down Minho's foot. 

"I suppose so," Minho says with a shrug. "I would've been okay driving home, but if it makes you feel better I don't mind staying." 

"It does make me feel better," Jisung tells him, scooting off the bed and onto his feet so he can walk back over to his dresser and pull out a pair of black sweatpants. "Are these okay?" he asks, turning around to show them to Minho. 

"I'll take whatever you want to loan me," Minho tells him, and Jisung underhand tosses them at him. He catches them, sitting up. "Should I go to the bathroom to change or do you mind if I just do it here?" 

"Oh." Jisung feels warmth creep up the back of his neck. "Um, you can just do it here. I don't mind, I'll just look away for a moment." 

"Thanks," Minho says as he starts to stand up, and Jisung quickly turns away from him and sits on the end of the bed facing the door. 

He pulls out his phone and unlocks it, staring down at the screen without really seeing anything on it as he listens to the ruffle of fabric as Minho changes. It's not like he hasn't been in the room with his friends while they change clothes before, but the friend in this scenario being Minho who he's stupidly attracted to makes it a lot more embarrassing than normal. Still, Jisung keeps his eyes locked on his phone until the other side of the bed squeaks and dips as Minho sits down on it. "I'm done." 

Thank god. 

Jisung stops pretending to look at his phone and turns to face Minho again, finding the other boy stretching out his legs to show off how the sweatpants look on him. 

They look nice is the thing, which Jisung finds a bit irritating just because he thinks he looks a bit formless in his own sweatpants while Minho-- well, Minho looks good in everything so he can't say he's surprised. The legs are a little short on him because he has some height on Jisung, just like he predicted, but besides that they seem to fit well enough to sleep in. 

The thing Jisung didn't expect when he turned around was the strange feeling that bubbles up in his stomach when he sees Minho dressed in his clothing-- first his favorite hoodie, now his sweatpants-- and looking a little ruffled and sleepy but so, _so_ handsome. 

Jisung wonders if this is what the rush of seeing your partner in your clothing is like. If so, he suddenly understands why people always freak out about it. 

"Don't tear my pants," he says instead of any of that, not letting his eyes linger on Minho's thighs for too long for his own health. 

Minho just laughs at him, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "No promises. Anyways, what side am I taking?" 

Jisung shrugs. "I always sleep closer to the wall so I guess you can take the outside if that's alright?" 

Minho lets out a content hum before flopping back against the pillows on that side. "That's fine by me. Less getting squished against a wall." 

"More of a chance to roll off the bed," Jisung counters as he turns off the lamp they left on before he climbs up beside Minho, picking at the blankets and futilely tugging at them. "Get your ass off of my blankets so I can get under them." 

Even in the dark before his eyes have adjusted all the the way, he can make out Minho sticking his tongue out at him as he lifts himself up and shimmies the blankets down so they can both slip under, setting his glasses off somewhere to the side. 

It's such an odd experience sliding into bed next to Minho. 

Jisung's bed is tiny. It has to be to fit in the dorm comfortably. The one he has back home is bigger, big enough that him and Jeongin could both pass out there and comfortably have their own space. That's not the case here, as Jisung quickly realizes. 

They're shoulder to shoulder, their sides not quite pressed together but they might as well be. If Jisung let his arms lay flat, he'd definitely be touching Minho's. Instead, he crosses his arms over his chest as if he's hugging himself. 

The faint buzz of his anxiety courses through his body, keeping him stiff as a board and afraid to move so he doesn't bother Minho. 

After a minute or two, Minho says, "The stain on your ceiling kind of looks like a pineapple." 

Jisung can't help but bark out a laugh, Minho's nonchalant voice shooing his nerves away. His shoulders relax first and he forces that to move down through his whole body until he's no longer stiff. "You know what? Felix says the exact same thing." 

"Great minds," Minho says, and Jisung snorts. Then he adds, "Your bed is really small." 

"Gee," Jisung says dryly, "what an acute observation you've made." 

"Shut up," Minho says, lightly elbowing Jisung in the side. "I was just thinking I haven't slept somewhere so cramped since I moved out with Changbin." 

"Welcome to your roots," Jisung says. "Is it as magical of an experience as you remember?" 

"Well, I definitely think my back will hurt the way it used to," Minho says. 

"Oh, it absolutely will," Jisung confirms. The number of times he's woken up with a sore back from laying on a weird lump in the old mattress? More than he can count. "It doesn't help that these things definitely weren't meant for two people." 

"Definitely not," Minho agrees, bumping his elbow against Jisung again to prove a point. 

"My bed back home is so much better for sleepovers and stuff," Jisung complains. "If Jeongin and I fell asleep at my house we'd each have a whole side of the bed to ourselves and we wouldn't even roll into each other in the middle of the night or anything." 

"Did you have sleepovers a lot?" Minho asks, and Jisung flushes at his words, glad they're in the dark. 

"Well, it sounds a bit childish when you say it back to me," he says. 

"Not in a bad way," Minho says quietly. 

"Oh." Jisung reaches up to brush the hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, I guess? Not all the time. We had them more when we were younger, but when we went to the same school sometimes he would just sleep over and we'd walk together in the morning." 

"That sounds fun," Minho says, and there's an honesty to his voice that puts Jisung at ease that he's not being made fun of. 

"It was. We used to stay up way later than we probably should've and just talk. I remember we always used to tell each other to shut up because we wanted to sleep and then a few minutes later we'd just start talking again." Jisung can't help but smile at the thought. He misses Jeongin. Hopefully they'll get a chance to hang out again soon. 

"Ah, cute," Minho says quietly, and Jisung's blush deepens. Then Minho admits, "I don't remember the last time I slept in someone's bed with them just… casually." 

"Really?" Jisung asks in surprise, turning to look at him. "Even Changbin?" 

Minho keeps looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "Bin and I aren't really like that. He's my best friend, sure, but when we live together there's really no point when we can just walk back over to our own beds." 

"I get that," Jisung acknowledges. 

"Plus I just like having my own space," Minho says. 

"Oh." Jisung tries to scoot over a bit more, giving Minho more room on his side-- well. There's only one side and there's nowhere to go. Jisung doesn't get very far. 

Minho just snorts. "It's fine, Jisung. I don't mind with you." 

"Oh," Jisung says again, a warmth rising in his stomach. 

He waits for Minho to elaborate but it doesn't come. Instead he just stares up at the ceiling in silence while Jisung watches him. 

In a moment of weakness, he lets himself study Minho's face in the darkness. His hair is ruffled and messy, falling across his forehead in a way that makes Jisung want to run his fingers through it, push it back out of Minho's face. The slope of his nose is still just as attractive as the first time he saw him. It makes him seem sharper, more regal. Minho's lips are soft, parted slightly, and Jisung can't help but remember all the times he's thought about what it would be like to kiss him, just once. 

His eyes are what draw his attention though, but that's nothing new. He can't make out the exact details in the darkness of the room, even this close now that his eyes have adjusted, but the long fan of Minho's eyelashes may just be the prettiest thing in the world. Or the second prettiest, because he doesn't think anything could beat Minho's actual eyes. They're dark and pretty, glimmering just from the faint moonlight that leaks in through the curtains on the window. It's not fair, Jisung thinks as he looks at Minho, that his eyes sparkle like that. It's really not fair. 

Nothing about Lee Minho is fair, least of all the fact that he's not just pretty; he's also incredibly attentive and kind. 

It's really not fair. 

"You're my friend," Minho says out of nowhere, just as Jisung's eyes are starting to get heavy after studying his best friend's face. His words tether him back to the waking world, and he turns to look at his friend with a little frown. 

"Yeah, I am," Jisung confirms easily. Of course he is. 

"Right," Minho says, and shifts in bed, turning slightly. He's not facing Jisung all the way, but his body's tilted towards him enough that Jisung gets the idea. He's still staring up at the ceiling. "I know you are." 

There's something odd about Minho's voice when he speaks. It's something Jisung can't place, which frustrates him nearly as much as not being able to read Minho's face. It's not like it's unusual for Minho to get monotone, he can still read Minho's voice even if it gets like that. The problem is Minho isn't monotone. 

Instead, his voice is soft and almost a little distant. He's quiet, not in a sleepy way but almost like he's thinking, and Jisung can't for the life of him figure out what about. 

"Is something wrong?" Jisung asks, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. 

"I don't think so," Minho says, but even he sounds unsure. "I'm just… thinking, I guess." 

"Okay." Jisung rolls to face him. "Do you wanna talk about it?" 

"I'm not really good with talking," Minho says, crossing his arms over his chest and rubbing at his arms. 

"That's not true. You're better than anyone I've ever met at just being able to start a conversation from nothing," Jisung counters, trying not to sound to argumentative. It's just a fact. Minho's good at cracking through people's shells with a few words. It's part of his charm. 

It's part of why Jisung liked him so much, even right from the start. 

"Not that kind of talking. That's just me getting people to open up and be comfortable." Minho lets out a little hum. The one he sometimes makes when he's trying to say something but needs to fill the space between words. "I'm not good with… talking about things that are about feelings." 

"Oh," Jisung says, shifting slightly to face him. "Well, that's okay." 

"Sometimes I don't think it is," Minho admits. "Sometimes I want to… express myself. And I want to talk about how I feel, especially when I care about something a lot, but I get nervous about it and back off." 

"I do that too," Jisung reassures, and Minho shakes his head a little. 

"You can at least talk about your feelings without it being buried under a lot of humor." Slowly, Minho says, "Feelings are just… hard." 

"They are," Jisung agrees softly. He knows. "But it's okay. You don't have to be perfectly articulate about your feelings. I think I'm pretty good at understanding what you're trying to say even if you can't get the actual words out." He lets that sit for a moment before adding, "Besides, I like you the way you are." 

Minho inhales sharply beside him, and the reaction makes Jisung blink. Slowly, Minho exhales again, his eyelids fluttering shut. Quietly, Minho says, "Sometimes you say things and I don't think you realize what they mean to me." 

Confused, Jisung tilts his head, hair falling into his eyes. "What do you mean, Minho?" 

Suddenly Minho laughs, making Jisung jump. It's so out of nowhere, so loud in the quiet room. 

It doesn't even sound like Minho's normal laugh. He sounds nervous. 

"I'm sorry," Minho says after his laughter stops, voice quieting down again. "I think too much at night as it is. Being around you just… makes me talk more I guess. I'm just being stupid." 

"Are you sure?" Jisung asks, trying to read Minho's face in the darkness. Whatever expression was there before-- the unsure, wide-eyed look he couldn't pinpoint-- it's gone now, replaced by one of Minho's neutral expressions. 

"I'm just tired and running my mouth, don't worry about it, Sungie," he says, and he shakes his head. "Sometimes I just say things without thinking and they come out weird." 

Jisung does worry. It's kind of his thing. But he also doesn't want to push Minho, not when he's acting so odd tonight. Not when they're laying together in his bed with barely any space between them. 

So he puts away his worries for now and just says, "The things you say aren't weird to me, they're just… you." 

"Ah," Minho says, and it sounds like he wants to say something else but doesn't. 

Ah, Jisung agrees. He's not really sure what's on Minho's mind, but whatever it is he hopes it isn't anything bad. And if it is-- well, he doesn't mind if Minho has troubles talking about serious things, he really doesn't, but if it is something bad he hopes Minho will let him help. 

He is his best friend, after all. 

"It really is cold in here," Minho mumbles after a while, bringing his arms around himself. Jisung winces. 

"I'm really sorry," he says. "I should've warned you about the heating being messed up before you came over." 

"It's not your fault," Minho says lightly. "I didn't think I'd be spending the night." 

"I'm sorry about that too. I should've watched the time." 

Minho nudges his leg with his foot. "Stop apologizing. I'm an adult, Jisung. I can take care of myself. If I really wanted to, I could've just gone home even if it was later." 

"Why are you here then?" Jisung asks, and he says it like a joke but if Minho really doesn't mind driving home this late, why _is_ he here? 

Minho just sighs. "You really are dense sometimes." 

He bristles, turning his head to look at the other boy with a pout that he hope he can see even in the darkness. "What does that mean?" 

"It means I'm here because I like you, dumbass," Minho shoots back, and before Jisung can formulate a good answer, Minho's sticking his foot up the leg of Jisung's sweatpants and pressing it against the skin there. His socks are thin and even through that he can feel how freezing cold Minho's feet are. "Are you sure the cold didn't freeze your brain?" 

"Don't be mean!" Jisung whines, wiggling away from Minho's foot despite there being nowhere to go. "You're in my bed! You have to be nice to me! And _stop_ sticking your feet on me!" 

"But you're so warm!" Minho says, moving closer to him. 

"And you're so fucking cold," Jisung counters, turning onto his side so he's facing the wall, making himself smaller. 

"Fine," Minho says with an exaggerated pout in his voice. He hears him shift a little next to him. "Keep your warmth! I'll just freeze to death over on this side then." 

And the part of Jisung that thinks Minho's his best friend wants to tell him to die then, because that's how they are when they're acting like shitty best friends together. 

But the part of Jisung that likes Minho as something other than that just feels so bad that he's over here when the dorm's heating is all messed up, and so _bad_ that despite his obvious teasing he's actually cold. 

In a rare act of courage, Han Jisung decides to stop being a coward for just a moment and scoots across the bed until his back is pressed against Minho's chest. As soon as he does, he feels Minho go rigid as a statue. The room is so quiet that when Minho holds his breath, Jisung can hear it-- or the lack of it. 

He immediately wants to kick himself. He doesn't know why he just did this-- yes he does, of course he does, because he's an idiot and he likes Minho, and did he mention he's an idiot-- or why he thought it was a good idea, but now Minho's just frozen against him and surely he's done something wrong because he wouldn't react like this if he wasn't uncomfortable and-- 

"Jisung?" Minho's voice is quiet. 

Jisung squeezes his eyes shut tightly, trying to block out his own racing thoughts before he spins himself into a panic right next to his best friend. "Yeah?" 

"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing over here?" 

_I'm stupid and have a giant idiot crush on you and I make dumb decisions because of it,_ is what Jisung wishes he could say because that would certainly clear things up a bit, but that's also definitely not something he can actually or should actually say, so instead he says, "I don't want you putting your cold feet on my leg, but that doesn't mean I want you to be cold." 

"Oh," Minho says, his voice pitched slightly higher than Jisung expects. He falls silent for a moment, then asks, "Why are you afraid of my feet?" 

The way Minho's dumb teasing immediately quiets the anxious mumbling in his head really shouldn't surprise Jisung at this point, but it does. Still, he manages to say, "They're cold and feet are gross, that's why. Why do you wanna stick your feet on me so bad?" 

"You're warm, we've been over this," Minho says, snaking his foot up towards Jisung's leg again. Jisung kicks back playfully to keep him away. 

"Leave my legs alone or I'll roll over again," Jisung threatens, and Minho gasps in fake offense. "Either accept this much better offer or get no warmth at all." 

"You drive a hard bargain, Sungie." 

"Do I? I think having a whole person's worth of body warmth is obviously a better choice. I don't think it's that hard." 

Minho lets out an exaggerated sigh, draping an arm across Jisung's middle. "Well, when you put it that way, I _guess_ I'll stop trying to put my feet on you." 

"Thank you," Jisung says pointedly. 

"My feet are actually cold though," Minho admits quietly after a moment. 

Jisung lets out a sigh of his own then, reaching back with his own fuzzy sock-clad feet until he finds Minho's. There's not much he can really do, but he hooks his feet around Minho's and presses them together, hoping to at least share a little of his warmth. 

"Pushover," Minho murmurs. 

"Shut up," Jisung says, but his voice is soft and doesn't have bite to it. 

When Minho pulls him tighter, he's sure he's imagined it-- surely it's just Minho naturally adjusting to get comfortable, after all-- but then his arm tightens around Jisung's middle and any of the distance Jisung left between them when he scooted back against his friend is gone. He fits perfectly against Minho, and all at once Jisung's stuck by just how tiny he is compared to Minho. It's not like Minho's that much taller than him, but proportionally it feels like he's just… so small in Minho's arms. 

"Is this warmer?" Jisung asks, his voice sounding as small as he feels. 

Minho nods, his breath tickling Jisung's neck and making him shiver. He hopes it passes as being from the cold room, although with Minho wrapped around him it's hard to feel anything but how _warm_ he is. It's like being wrapped up in a heated blanket. 

"That's good." Jisung stares at his wall in the dark, trying to make his brain shut up about how Minho is _holding him_ in his _bed_. Finally, he whispers, "Sweet dreams, Minho." 

A faint rumble of laughter vibrates through Minho, something Jisung feels against his back. He squeezes Jisung tighter for a moment before loosening his grip, letting his arm curl lazily around Jisung's middle again. When he speaks, his voice is low and sleepy. "Sweet dreams, Jisung." 

And Jisung does have sweet dreams, although they don't come to him for another half hour because of how overwhelmed he is by his sleeping arrangement. 

(He dreams of Minho kissing him in his shitty car with the music playing low enough where he can't make out the song. He dreams of Minho kissing him in their favorite cafe-- the one from the first time they went out-- and Minho gently holds Jisung by the back of his neck as he presses their lips together. He dreams of Minho kissing him in their corner of the library, Minho pulling the book right of Jisung's hands and surprising him there. He dreams of Minho kissing him everywhere they go together, like he wants to show off that Jisung's his. 

He dreams of Minho rolling him over in this bed and kissing him softly, and that's the point where he knows it's just a dream. But that's okay, because he'd rather have this just for a little bit than never. Even if it's just a dream.) 

 

\---

 

Felix's date with Seungmin ran later than either of them expected, the two of them walking down to the local theatre and buying tickets for some fancy art house movie Felix didn't understand but Seungmin loved, which of course meant Felix enjoyed himself anyways. Felix had sat with him for a while after that, just listening to Seungmin excitedly babble about the cinematography and all the other things that completely went over Felix's head but made Seungmin absolutely delighted. Not that he minded at all. He loves listening to his boyfriend get excited about what he's passionate about, even if he doesn't fully understand why the things that make him excited do that. 

Whatever makes Seungmin happy makes Felix happy, and that's enough for him. 

He says goodbye to Seungmin at the stairs of their floor, getting up on his tiptoes to press his lips to Seungmin's before parting ways to their respective ends of the hall and rooms. 

Felix opens the dorm door and is halfway through taking off his jacket when he sees the two boys curled together on his roommate's bed and goes, "Holy shit." 

Any excitement on the boy's face immediately evaporates when he realizes how awkward it would be for him to just lay right down in his own bed across the room and act like there isn't an entire other person in his roommate's bed, and with a little scowl Felix grabs his phone charger from where it's plugged in before shutting the door and heading in the direction of Seungmin and Hyunjin's room, leaving the two boys sleeping peacefully together. 

 

\---

 

Jisung wakes to a cold spot. 

It shouldn't bother him, not when the dorm's heating has been broken for the past few days-- and it doesn't bother him is the thing, not at first. At first it's just uncomfortable, even under his blankets. His feet are cold even with his fuzzy socks, which certainly isn't new. He shivers, instinctively moving back without thinking, like he'll find a heat source. 

And he does expect to find a heat source, his sleep-fogged brain realizes when it finds none. He expects to find Minho. Minho, who stayed the night because Jisung felt bad about sending him home so late. Minho, who slept in the same bed as Jisung because he didn't want to make him sleep on the floor when it was so cold. Minho, who let Jisung move back against him so their warmth was pressed together, who wrapped an arm around Jisung and held him as they slept. 

Minho, who Jisung realizes is very much not in bed with him anymore. 

Confused, he opens his eyes. He's facing his wall just like how he fell asleep, the familiar dull eggshell color with the slight crack in it. He rolls over, hoping to find Minho somehow crowded to the very edge of the bed-- he wouldn't blame him if he got tired of holding him-- or sitting somewhere in the room waiting for him to wake up-- he knows Minho naturally wakes up earlier than he does, although that isn't very hard when Jisung tends to sleep from anywhere to noon to two in the afternoon if he's allowed to. 

Minho is neither of those places, and the cold spot that woke Jisung sinks into his gut. 

He sits up, reaching over to where he set his phone and turning it on. It's ten past noon. It's Monday, so it's the one weekday his schedule is clear of classes. That's not what bothers him. 

He double checks the room as if Minho's going to magically appear somewhere before he finally accepts that Minho left. Not only that, but he left without saying goodbye. A quick glance at his messages and calls tells him he didn't try to get ahold of him like that either. 

Something tight and cold begins to spiral in his stomach, a telltale sign of oncoming anxiety. 

He didn't think he upset Minho last night. He really-- he really thought Minho was okay with spending the night, with sharing the bed, with putting an arm around him. It had been strange at first, a leap of faith across Jisung's comfort zone, but he didn't think Minho was bothered. Or he hadn't last night, at least, because the tightness in his gut climbs to his chest and all he can think is: _What if I read it wrong?_

That's been his fear all along, hasn't it? That his crush on Minho-- his feelings-- would get in the way, that he'd scare Minho off. That Minho would be put off, realize Jisung's just a weird guy with no real redeeming qualities outside of being good for a laugh every once in a while. An idiot with a stupid crush who can't take a hint. 

Bile rises in his throat, and he opens his messages, breath coming uneven. 

 

**[Jisung]  
hey where'd you go?**

 

He waits for an excruciating five minutes, his head feeling like it's tilted sideways and everything about him is just _off_ , the tips of his fingers tingling coldly in that strange, unique way they always do when he's on the verge of an anxiety attack. 

No answer. 

 

**[Jisung]**  
**hey it kind of would've been nice if you said goodbye**  
**or left a message or smthn**  
**instead of just leaving yknow**

 

He's overreacting. That's the messed up thing, is part of him knows he's working himself up and scaring himself but he can't stop it. 

He doesn't-- he doesn't even have a right to be upset, does he? He shouldn't be upset Minho left without telling him. It's not like they're dating. It's not like sleeping in the same bed meant anything, not really. 

But he's still upset, and with his brain screaming that he shouldn't be it only makes him feel worse. 

He tries to call Minho once, just to see, but gets his voicemail. That's the point that sends him over, his whole body tensing as his hands quiver. 

He manages to stand up, mind fogged over as he fumbles his way out the door and down the hall to Seungmin and Hyunjin's room. He knocks, trying to keep his breathing as even as he possibly can so he doesn't just have a complete breakdown in his dorm hallway. 

Someone shuffles inside and a moment later Seungmin is holding open the door, blinking in confusion as he takes in his visitor. 

"Jisung?" Seungmin says, taking in Jisung disheveled state, his uneven breathing, the way Jisung clutches both his hands together to keep them from trembling too obviously. Seungmin's brow immediately creases into a look of concern. "What's wrong?" 

"Jisung's there?" Felix's voice calls from inside, and suddenly Felix is peaking over his boyfriend's shoulder, his eyes going wide. "Ji, are you okay?" 

Jisung opens his mouth to speak, trying to find the words to explain why he's upset, what's wrong, why he knows he's stupid. Instead he blurts out, "Minho's gone." 

"What?" Felix says, and Seungmin purses his lips together before gently taking Jisung by the arm and guiding him inside. Jisung lets it happen, miserably allowing his friend to bring him over to his bed and sit him down. 

Hyunjin's not around, Jisung notes even in his fogged state. He has a class around this time, the one with the project he's been working on. Felix and Seungmin have classes soon too, so he's lucky he at least caught them before that. He's not sure how he would've handled this all by himself. 

"Last night Minho came over to hang out and we went late enough that I felt bad making him go home," Jisung says, words coming out fast and jumbled. He reaches up and rubs at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt before shaking his head-- like that's going to clear the way his mind's spinning fast enough that he feels like he's going to be sick. "And we slept in my bed because I didn't wanna make him sleep on the floor, and it was cold so I-- I was stupid and I moved back against him and I thought it was okay because he put an arm around me and didn't push me away, but when I woke up he was gone and he didn't say goodbye or anything and I'm just--" 

"Shh, slow down," Felix says, sitting down next to him. "Ji, take a deep breath. You're working yourself up." 

"He was just gone," Jisung says again, and he can't help the way his eyes feel hot. "And now he won't answer my texts!" 

"Calm down," Seungmin says, his voice even as he speaks. Felix reaches out to touch his arm and Jisung just melts into it, letting his roommate wrap an arm around him. "I'm sure it's nothing." 

"No! He probably changed his mind and decided sleeping in bed with me was weird or something, or that I was weird, or--" Jisung's breath comes out as a choke. "Why else would he just leave without saying something?" 

"I don't think that's it, Jisung," Seungmin says, and he comes over to the bed and sits down on Jisung's other side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think you're just scaring yourself." 

"Yeah. Why don't you just talk to him?" Felix suggests. 

"I'm trying," Jisung says with a sniffle. "He won't pick up or reply, remember?" 

"There are tons of reasons someone might not pick up the phone," Seungmin reminds him. 

"I shouldn't even be upset," Jisung says miserably. "I don't have a reason or a right or-- we're not dating. I can't be mad that he left." 

"I think it's okay to be upset," Felix says, rubbing Jisung's shoulder. "You're not dating, but you're friends and you slept in the same bed together. It's scary to wake up and have him gone." 

"I agree with Felix," Seungmin says. "I think it's okay that you're scared, but I also think you need to talk to him, and I think the best thing for you to do is do it in person. That way there's no misunderstandings." 

He knows they're right is the thing. Even with his anxiety-muddled brain he knows that. So he presses his face into his hands and takes deep, even breathes like he knows he's supposed to. Felix gently rubs his back, mumbling reassurances to him. 

"Did you take your meds?" Felix asks softly when Jisung's calmed down a bit. He shakes his head. "Okay. Make sure you do that, okay? You don't wanna make it worse by skipping them." 

Slowly, Jisung nods. 

So he does. Felix and Seungmin trail behind him, waiting in the hall outside while Jisung takes care of his medication and actually gets ready. He just pulls on a hoodie with his coat on top of it. He doesn't bother brushing his hair, just runs his fingers through it and putting a beanie on. 

"You're gonna be okay," Seungmin tells him when he comes out again, tapping his shoulder. Jisung just nods. 

"I have a class soon so I probably won't be around for a bit," Felix says, reaching out to thread his arm through Jisung's as they walk towards the elevator. "Just text me what happens, okay? I wanna make sure you're alright." 

Jisung nods again. Then, quietly, he adds, "Thanks you guys. Sorry about me overreacting." 

Seungmin just shrugs. "It's okay. You like Minho, of course you're worried about your friendship. Like I said, I don't think he's upset or anything. I'm glad you're going to go talk to him." 

Jisung sighs. "Talking to him has never been hard, why am I suddenly so scared to?" 

"Because you love him," Felix says simply, and Jisung winces. He hasn't said that out loud yet, not even to his friends. It's felt too.... personal. Like saying it out loud made it real. 

Stupid, because it's been real for a long time. 

Felix's words play over and over in his head the entire walk to the building where he knows Minho has class at this time. The boxy building is so familiar now. He'd wait outside if he could, but it's cold enough that he knows he shouldn't. So he sits on the ledge of the big window inside, just in view of the door that leads to Minho's class so the other boy will see him for sure when he comes out after. He pulls his hat off and balls it up in the pocket of his coat, reaching up and running his hands through his hair anxiously. 

He watches as the hour hand ticks over on the clock above the door and the sound of people moving inside slips into the hallway. He takes a deep breath, then another, forcing himself to regulate his breathing as the door opens and students start pouring out. 

When Minho spots him, the older boy's face lights up. It makes his stomach roll, the mix of emotions not sitting well inside of him. If Minho was uncomfortable after sleeping in the same bed with him last night, surely he wouldn't be looking at him like that-- right? 

"Hi," Minho says brightly, a smile on his face as he comes over to where Jisung's sitting. He stands immediately, shoving his hands into his pockets. Minho has his glasses on, which makes sense since he didn't bring contacts with him to Jisung's dorm. More upsetting than that, however, is that under Minho's unzipped jacket he can make out his own magenta hoodie, the one he gave Minho when he was cold last night. It softens everything about him, making Jisung's heart hurt. "You came and found me, huh?" 

"Uh, yeah," Jisung says, glancing at the other people milling about in front of the class. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" 

Minho looks around at the other students before turning back to him. "Alone?" 

"Yeah," Jisung says with a nod. "Just… for a moment, I promise." 

"Alright," Minho agrees, and his face is slightly flushed. He must've been dancing, Jisung thinks absently, letting Minho guide him around the corner to a hallway that's completely empty. "There aren't any classes over here at this time, so we're good." 

"Okay." He glances down at the floor, at where his shoes stand opposite Minho's. He can't bring himself to look up at him. 

"Hey," Minho says, voice suddenly soft. Concerned. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm--" Jisung starts, _fine_ catching in his throat. He's not, and Minho can tell. Seungmin and Felix calmed him down but his brain won't stop talking, whispering to him about how he fucked things up, how Minho realized he's no good and that's why he left so suddenly this morning. "I don't know," is what he finally settles on saying. 

"Oh," Minho says. "Is it because…" He trails off. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"That's why I'm here," Jisung says. 

"Okay." Minho lets out a deep breath. "You know I'll always listen to you." 

And fuck, somebody who decided he wasn't worth it anymore wouldn't say that, right? Right? 

Slowly, he raises his eyes again to look at Minho and is suddenly struck by the deep _worry_ in his eyes. It hurts him, having that turned on him, knowing he's worrying Minho enough that it reaches his eyes like that. 

He knows he has to talk, even if it scares him, so before he can second guess himself he blurts out, "You left this morning." 

"Yes," Minho confirms, looking confused. "I had class." 

Of course. Jisung literally remembered Minho had class this morning, and yet-- 

"I tried to call you," he says, taking his hands out of his pockets only to put them back in again, not knowing what to do with them. He watches as Minho's eyes drop down to them and he shivers, knowing that Minho knows all of his anxiety quirks. "And text you." 

"You did?" Minho says, blinking rapidly. "I'm sorry, my phone died. I fell asleep at your place, remember? I didn't have my charger." 

That… that makes sense. So much sense. Why didn't he think of that? He should've. He can't believe he didn't-- 

"Well," Jisung starts, and he feels his cheeks turning hot. "Well, why didn't you at least wake me up and tell me you had class? Or, or--" 

"I left a note," Minho says, looking hurt. 

Jisung stops in his tracks. "What?" 

"I left a note," Minho repeats. "You have those little… Doraemon sticky notes? On your desk? I put it on your mirror because I thought you'd use it before you left." 

He'd been so out of when he woke up alone, not a word from Minho, that he hadn't even bothered checking himself in the mirror before he ran out of his room to find Felix and Seungmin. It hadn't even occurred to him. 

Voice suddenly very small, he asks, "You did?" 

Minho's expression clouds. "You didn't see it?" 

Slowly, Jisung shakes his head. "No." 

"Oh." And Minho sounds… disappointed? 

_In you,_ the tiny voice in the back of his head mumbles. _Because you're acting weird and this wasn't what he signed up for when he became your friend._

"I didn't want to wake you up," Minho continues slowly. "I know you sometimes skip out on sleep and you just seemed so peaceful, I figured I'd let you rest." 

He's so stupid. 

"You wanted to let me rest," Jisung repeats, more to himself than to Minho. 

"Yeah. I worry about you sometimes," Minho says, and Jisung flinches. He doesn't like worrying people, least of all Minho. "Jisung…. did you think I left without saying anything because I was upset with you?" 

And there it is, laid out between them by Minho himself. He hates that Minho knows him so well, hates the he can see right through him in every way. He feels hot shame wash over him when Minho says it. 

The worst part is he can't help but hear the note of hurt in Minho's voice when he speaks. 

" _Now_ you're upset with me," Jisung says, and puts his head in his hands. "You should be. I overreacted. I don't know why I-- I shouldn't-- I don't have a right--" 

"Jisung," Minho says softly. 

He shakes his head hard. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me." 

"Jisung," Minho repeats, firmer this time, and Jisung looks up at him. "I'm not mad at you, I just-- god, this wasn't how things were supposed to happen." 

"Wasn't how what was supposed to happen?" 

"I-- look. I'm not mad at you. Of course I'm not. I just thought when you came here, you were coming because…" Minho trails off, pursing his lips. Then he sighs, slowly reaching out a hand. It hovers hesitantly for a moment, like he's not sure if he's allowed to touch him. Jisung doesn't flinch, and when Minho finally moves his hand so it rests on his arm with all the delicacy of a butterfly landing on him, Jisung practically melts into the touch, all the emotions from today hitting him at once in a wave of pure exhaustion. He pushes into Minho's hand gently, taking a tiny step forward. His reaction prompts a tiny smile from the other boy, who after a moment takes his own step forward and slowly puts his other hand on Jisung's other side before pulling him to his chest and into a hug. 

"I'm sorry," Jisung says again, muffled by the fabric of Minho's hoodie-- Jisung's hoodie. It smells like Minho now, despite him only having it for a short time. Of course it does, he thinks wearily, suddenly drained. Minho's in it. Minho's holding him while in it. Of course it smells like him. 

"It's okay," Minho reassures, and Jisung feels one of the hands on his arm slide up his shoulder and the back of his neck, threading fingers through his hair and coming to rest there, cradling Jisung's head gently. His eyelids flutter shut at the feeling, involuntarily pushing his face deeper into Minho's chest. 

He lets Minho hold him like that, listening to Minho's heartbeat and his steady breathing. At some point, he feels him drop his head down and press his lips to the top of Jisung's head. 

"Did you really think I was upset with you and that's why I left?" Minho asks, keeping his voice gentle. Blameless. Jisung nods against his chest and Minho lets out a shaky breath. "Why? Because we slept in the same bed and I… changed my mind about being okay with that?" 

"It's stupid," Jisung says, which they both know is a yes. 

"I would never change my mind about you," Minho says, and the way he says it, gentle but firm, makes Jisung shiver, pressing into Minho's arms more. He feels Minho tighten his hold on him in response. "And you're not stupid, don't say that. You just… worry." 

"I worry _too_ much," he grumbles. 

"Maybe," Minho agrees, "but I've never been mad at you for it and I'm not going to start now." 

He can't understand why Minho's being so nice to him after he showed up here thinking the worst because of his anxiety, but the way he talks to him makes Jisung almost want to cry. He doesn't, mostly because he doesn't want Minho to misunderstand and think he upset him, but he gets close. He's just glad his face is buried in Minho's chest so he can't see. 

Minho holds him for a while, the fingers in his hair gently working against him. It reminds him of when they went to the cat cafe and he watched Minho pet the cats there, and were the situation different he would find it funny. As it is, he just finds it… nice. He turns to jelly in Minho's arms and he wonders if Minho let go of him now if he'd just fall over. 

The anxiety that's been plaguing him since he woke up seems distant now, like Minho pushed it as far away from Jisung as possible. It's nothing new, he's known how safe Minho makes him feel since practically the moment he first met him, but this feels… different. 

"Hey," Minho says eventually, and it's muffled against Jisung's hair. Jisung hums softly to let him know he's listening. "I have my shift at the library to go to right now. You can find me there later if you want, but… I left you that note, okay? I think you should-- well, I left it for you. Like I said, I left it on your mirror. I wrote it for you, it would be nice if you read it." 

"Can't you just tell me what it says?" Jisung asks, and tightens his grip on Minho. He suddenly feels exceedingly clingy, and this hug is the only thing that matters to him in the world. It's like he's been lost in a desert for months and Minho's embrace is an oasis found at long last, having spent so much time unsure if it's an illusion only to find that it's real and it's beautiful and it's all he's ever wanted. 

Is he being dramatic? Maybe. Probably. Absolutely. Does he care? Not really. 

Minho laughs at that. It makes his chest and the place where Jisung's tucked himself against his throat rumble. Jisung wishes he could spend forever here, just feeling this. "You're so impatient, Sungie." 

"I've never claimed otherwise," he grumbles. 

Still, he slowly detaches himself from Minho, although very reluctantly. Minho keeps his hands resting gently on Jisung's arms, almost like he doesn't want to let go of him either. 

"I really am sorry I jumped to conclusions," he apologizes again, glancing over Minho's shoulder and staring at a door down the hallway instead of directly at the older boy's face. He's still just so… embarrassed. "I don't know why I reacted like that." 

He does. Of course he does. At some point Minho had become one of his best friends and his silly crush had turned into something very real and very serious, and this morning he was just so scared that he was going to lose that connection with Minho and he just… was overwhelmed. 

But he can't exactly say that to Minho. 

"It's okay," Minho says again, voice soft enough that it makes Jisung actually look at him again, and if he thought Minho's voice was soft then he doesn't know what to call the look Minho is giving him: eyes kind and thoughtful, not a trace of his usual bravado anywhere to be found. Just… gentle. "You're okay." 

And Minho makes him feel okay. Mortified at his overreaction, but somehow okay. 

With a deep sigh, Jisung reaches up and fixes his hair, brushing it off his forehead where it messily fell. "You said you left the notes on my mirror?" 

"Uh, yeah," Minho confirms, letting go of Jisung and shifting a little before shoving his hands into his pockets. He glances down at his shoes. "It's just… I think it's worth you reading. Especially after," he gestures weakly between the two of them, "this. Because I think… well, I don't know. I could be wrong. I just think it's important for you to read." 

"Is it bad?" Jisung asks slowly, nerves creeping up on him again. 

"Ah, I don't think so," Minho says, looking back up at him. "I don't think it's bad anyways, and I hope that you don't think it is either." 

"So it's probably not bad, but I might think that it is?" Jisung repeats. 

"Worst case scenario," Minho murmurs, then shakes his head. "Like I said, I don't know. I don't think it's bad and I don't _think_ you'll think it's bad, even if what you think isn't what I _want_ you to think, but I don't know. I think it's important for you to know, though." 

"That's a lot of thinking," Jisung says. "I feel kind of dizzy now." 

"I'm sorry," Minho says, and he reaches out and puts a hand on Jisung's head, gently running a thumb over part of his hair before pulling back. Jisung sighs at the touch and at how quick he loses it. "Don't be dizzy on my behalf." 

"It's too late for that," he says with a little laugh. It feels like he's been dizzy over Minho for months now, it's just it's all coming out now. 

Minho gives him a small, unsure smile. "Just read it, okay?" 

He nods. "I will." 

They look at each other then, and Jisung feels strange as they do. Like something's shifted. He wonders if Minho can feel it too. 

Finally, Minho says, "I'll be at the library, alright?" 

"I know," he says, because of course he knows. It's Monday. 

"Okay," Minho says, and he takes a small step past Jisung, hesitating even as he does that. Like he doesn't want to go but knows that he has to. "Don't be upset with yourself," he tells him again. "I'm really not mad at you." 

"I don't know why you're not," Jisung says with a shake of his head. 

"Easy," Minho says, his voice gentle. "It's because you're my friend and I love you." 

And Jisung stares after him as he walks, hands dangling weakly against his sides, his brain screaming for him to say he loves Minho back, but not like that-- but yes, like that, because he does love Minho as a friend, but also-- 

But also. 

 

\---

 

The walk back to the dorm feels a bit like a walk of shame. It's not like any of the people passing by know that he kind of maybe _definitely_ just had a bit of a breakdown even though he didn't need to, but it doesn't stop how embarrassed he feels. The cold stings his face and lungs, but it's almost refreshing in the worst kind of way. Like a wake up call, even though it's definitely almost four in the afternoon. 

He still can't believe he worked himself up into such a frenzy that he assumed the worst, especially when Minho's never been one to be weirded out by anything they've done. After all, Minho had been fine last night when Jisung offered to let him stay instead of driving home so late. 

"Ah, stupid," he says out loud to himself, watching his breath drift up in the cold air. 

He's always been emotional, and being emotional makes him prone to overreactions. Especially when it comes to sensitive things, and his relationship with Minho… 

Well. Today's outburst speaks for itself. 

Still, he really hopes he didn't make Minho upset because of his outburst. Minho said he wasn't mad at him or anything, but still-- 

"Stop overthinking," he says to himself as he opens the door to the building, low so nobody else can hear him. "Overthinking is what got you here in the first place." 

He doesn't bother with taking the elevator, instead taking the stairs up to the third floor even if it makes his legs hurt a little. He needs the walk. 

When he finally gets to his room and manages to get the door open he finds it empty, Felix's bag gone from where he usually leaves it. He told him he has a class around this time today, Jisung recalls as he steps inside and closes the door, although when Felix and Seungmin saw him off he'd been too out of it still to really process that. 

Now, where was it Minho said he stuck these notes? He glances around, eyes landing on the mirror on the wall. Ah, yes. 

There's not one, but two post it notes stuck to his mirror. He walks over to it, reaching up to touch the corner of one of the Doraemon notes, presumably the one that's intended to be read first. He gently pulls it off the mirror and holds it in both his hands, looking down at it. 

 

_Sungie_

_I would've loved to stay longer and go to breakfast with you or something but I have practice and a class this morning and I don't want to wake you up. You're a cute sleeper, hee hee. ♡_

_You should come visit me on my shift today. I haven't even left your room yet and I already miss your face!_

_Lovely Minho ♡_

 

He lets out a little breath. Minho really is just so sweet, even if it's in his own way. Now he really feels bad. He left Jisung this funny little note for him to wake up to and Jisung not only didn't see it but jumped right to thinking Minho was weirded out by him when this note is pretty much everything he would've needed to be reassured that wasn't the case. If only he'd seen it. 

It's a very Minho note. Very cute, which makes his heart do flips, just like it does whenever Minho does anything even vaguely cute towards him. 

Still, he doesn't understand why anything in this could potentially seem bad to him like Minho said. He also thought this was pretty straightforward and concise, so he doesn't really understand the need for a second note. 

With that in mind, he reaches up and plucks the other note off the mirror and puts it on top of the first as he starts to read, looking for answers to Minho's slightly cryptic words. 

 

_Sungie, Part 2_

_I know i just wrote that other note but I think I need to tell you something and I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now but keep putting it off. I feel braver when you're asleep. Isn't that silly, Sungie? That I can laugh at you and make you embarrassed all the time but the minute it comes to anything serious I can't do it?_

_I like you a lot, Jisung. I don't know if you like me that way too, but it's important for you to know. I'm not good with serious words. I wanna take you out on a date sometime, if that's okay. If it's not, I still wanna be your friend._

_Come find me, okay?_

_Lovely Minho Who Likes You A Lot ♡_

 

"Oh my god," Jisung whispers. "I'm so fucking stupid." 

And he has to be, because suddenly every moment with Minho clicks into place for him: every moment where Minho's looked at him with strange fondness that Jisung couldn't place, every time Minho's tangled their fingers together. The way Minho spends so much on him, both time and money. How he cared so much about making a good impression on Jisung's friends. Every single comment Changbin's made about Minho to Jisung; the pointed comment about his friend who likes one of their friends but is too scared to say anything. 

The way Minho held him. The way Minho told him he loves him. 

Lee Minho loves him the same way Jisung loves him and he's been too stupid to notice this whole time. 

The moment he realizes that, he stops caring about everything else. All his anxiety, all his doubts-- he shoves them away, because suddenly the only thing on his mind: _Minho, Minho, Minho._

He runs. 

He runs down the stairs, not caring that he could just take the elevator, his body suddenly coursing with too much energy that he doesn't know what to do with. He runs across campus, through the courtyard he likes to skateboard in to clear his head where Minho fell months ago. Past the boxy building where he's waited for Minho all those days in the cold, not caring if he shivered because Minho's presence was all the warmth he needed. Down the sidewalk he's walked side by side with Minho dozens of times, their sides pressed together as they talked and laughed. 

He runs until he finally comes to a stuttering stop in front of the library, bending over with hands on his knees as he gasps for breath, the cold air harsh against his lungs. 

_Minho._

The library is quiet as he pushes the door open, warm air across his face as he walks in. He doesn't even bother looking around, he already knows where he needs to go. So he walks, weaving his way through the maze of bookshelves until he's standing on the edge of the shelves, looking out on the familiar dimmed lighting over two chairs and a tiny table, tucked away from the rest of the library. 

He's not surprised at all to find a familiar figure turning a book over and over in his hands, like it holds the mysteries of the universe if only he could understand it. He's been waiting for him, Jisung realizes, and heat floods his chest. 

He hasn't noticed him yet, seemingly in his own little world. Worrying, probably. About him. About his reaction. And as scared as he is to start this, the last thing he's ever wanted is to worry Minho. 

"Minho," he says, voice sounding hoarse to his own ears, too loud and somehow too weak at the same time. 

He watches as Minho's head snaps up to look at him. 

Minho, who's always confident, always at ease. Minho who always teases him. Minho, who hates being serious and laughs everything off with a wry smirk. 

But here in the corner of the library he's come to think of as theirs over the past few months, Minho seems completely vulnerable. His hair is ruffled, the glasses he rarely wears perched on his nose. His dark eyes are wide, his lips slightly parted. A faint rosy tint covers his cheeks. He's still in the clothes he fell asleep in yesterday, Jisung's favorite hoodie looking just as good on Minho as it did the night before. It's only then that Jisung processes that Minho must have left the sweatpants he was borrowed at the dorm and took the hoodie on purpose. 

Because Minho likes him, Jisung thinks in awe. Because Minho saw the opportunity to borrow his crush's hoodie-- Jisung's hoodie-- and he took it. 

Minho looks at Jisung like he holds the older's heart in his hands, and with a start Jisung realizes that in a way he does. 

He's also hit with the memory of Minho the night before, their sides pressed together in Jisung's shitty little bed as they whispered back and forth, and the way Minho's voice had trembled when he tried to ask him something. The way Minho had turned his face away from Jisung's in the dark when Jisung didn't understand his question and Minho didn't know how to explain what he meant. 

Oh, Jisung realizes. 

_Oh._

Vulnerability. That's what he'd seen in Minho's face last night. 

He wonders if Minho was blushing then the way he is now, concealed by the darkness of Jisung's dorm room. He wonders if Minho's ever blushed like this when Jisung wasn't looking. 

The thought makes butterflies stir in his chest. 

But strangely? He feels calmer than he has all day standing here before the boy he's had a crush on for months now, who he came to terms with being happy with as a friend. Minho is worth being with in any capacity, in any way, and Jisung's known that from the moment he laid eyes on him that first day in the library. 

And now he knows that somehow, against all odds, for _some reason_ , Minho feels the same way that he does. 

And Jisung feels at peace. 

"Hi," Minho says, breaking their silence. His voice is very small, lacking the usual easiness he always has when he talks to Jisung. 

"Hi," Jisung says back, because he's not nervous anymore, but God, he doesn't know where to start. 

"You wrote out _hee hee_ , Minho," Jisung says after a moment. 

Minho blinks in confusion. Once, twice, three times. Jisung's favorite Minho habit, if he's being honest. It makes him look slightly bewildered, caught off-guard. Then he seems to realize that Jisung's talking about his notes. "Yeah?" 

"That's so stupid," Jisung says, and he can't keep the fondness out of his voice as he says it-- or the goofy smile that spreads across his face. He loves Minho's stupid writing habits. He loves everything about Minho. 

Minho's mouth opens wider in surprise, like the last thing he expected from this conversation was for Jisung to make fun of the way he wrote out his laughter in one of his confession notes. Which is fair, probably, but in the end he's still Lee Minho and he's still Han Jisung and really, Jisung finds he can't imagine this going any other way. 

Jisung's warmth seems to wake Minho up from his stupor, because an almost bashful, silly smile appears on his face. " _You're_ so stupid!" 

"I am!" Jisung agrees enthusiastically, which makes Minho laugh-- really laugh, and the sound is addicting to Jisung. He could spend the rest of his life hearing that laugh and never be tired of it. "I really am." 

Minho's laughter fades away then, leaving him looking at Jisung with a nervous, slightly flighty expression and a tiny smile. He looks like if Jisung breathes wrong, he'll bolt in fear. Like a stray cat, Jisung thinks fondly. 

"So," Minho says, voice quiet. 

"So," Jisung echos. 

Neither of them have moved from the places they were in when Minho first noticed him, Jisung realizes suddenly. Like they're afraid that moving will break what's happening, or that-- well, that it'll make things real. The space between them is open, clear. Inviting, not a single question of whether whatever they feel is mutual for the first time in months. All that needs to happen is for one of them to be brave, to take that first step. 

Jisung is a coward, but for Minho he'd do a lot of things he wouldn't usually. 

He takes a breath and steps closer to him. 

It's just one step at first, watching Minho's face as he does. He looks nervous still, an unsure smile on his face. So he takes another step. Then another and another until finally he's in front of Minho, looking up at him. 

"I read your notes," he tells him after a moment of them just looking at each other. 

"I know," Minho says, "you just made fun of me for something I wrote in it." 

"Oh," Jisung says with a start, like he just realized that he did, in fact, just open with that. "I did." 

They just look at each other again, and Jisung watches as the smile slides off Minho's face and he starts fidgeting, the other's momentary relief slipping away in the silence. 

"I'm sorry," Minho says, and it's comes out slightly rushed. "I'm not sure why I wrote those. I don't want to mess things up. We have something really good here and I don't want to be the one to ruin that. You should just-- you should just forget about them. Honestly, just pretend you never read them." 

_He's just like me,_ Jisung realizes with a start. Anxious about his own feelings. Scared about losing everything they've built over the past few months. Backing out of being honest about how he feels even if it just hurts him. 

Maybe Changbin was right, he thinks. Maybe him and Minho are the same. 

"I'm not going to let my feelings get in the way of that," Minho continues, not even stopping for a moment to let Jisung speak, which is so unlike him. He's panicking, trying to convince himself of what he's saying. 

Jisung needs to reassure him, but Minho won't let him get a word in, too busy rambling. 

So he does the only thing he can think of. 

Jisung reaches up and grabs the front of Minho's shirt and pulls him down until their lips meet. 

_Finally,_ Jisung thinks as he presses his mouth gently against Minho's. _Finally._

Minho freezes against him, stunned, and Jisung holds him there just for a moment. Just until Minho calms down. And then he pulls back, hands still balled up in fabric of Minho's shirt as they stare at each other. 

After a moment, Minho hoarsely asks, "Does that mean you feel the same?" 

And Jisung laughs, because he doesn't know what else to do. Of course he does, of course he feels the same. He nods, unable to stop the way his mouth turns up into a smile. 

Minho looks positively starstruck, eyes wide and lips parted so Jisung can see his two front teeth. It's the cutest thing in the world. Jisung wants to pull him in again and kiss them, kiss his cheeks, just-- just kiss him. 

"Can I kiss you?" Minho asks, his voiced hushed and raw like he can't quite believe he gets to ask that. 

"You don't have to ask," Jisung says, but he'd be lying if he said hearing Minho say those words wasn't the single most endearing thing he's ever heard. He'd imagined Minho asking that before-- dozens of times-- but none of his fantasies compare to the real thing. Minho had been cool, suave in his fantasies when he'd asked. 

Here he looks like a flustered, breathless dork. Just like Jisung. 

He loves reality so much more. 

"I want to hear you say yes," Minho says, and Jisung's heart does something funny at that. 

"Yes," Jisung says as he smiles wide. "Yes, you can kiss me." 

When he gets up on his tiptoes, this time Minho meets him halfway, their lips pressing together perfectly as he holds him there. He doesn't pull away from this kiss-- and it's a real one. A real kiss. 

And Jisung doesn't care that his lips are kind of chapped from the cold and that he didn't put on chapstick. He doesn't care when Minho's glasses slide forward down the bridge of his nose and bump against him. He doesn't care that his hands shake where they rest against Minho's chest, or that Minho grips his arm a little too tightly. 

He doesn't care about anything else in the whole world because he's kissing Lee Minho and that's the only thing that matters. 

"Where did you get all this confidence from?" Minho asks after they pull away, voice unbelievably soft as he leans his forehead against Jisung's. It's almost more intimate than the kiss to him, his heart skipping. He could stay like this forever. Jisung keeps his eyes closed, almost scared to open them. Like he's afraid he'll open his eyes and this will all be a dream. 

"Where did you leave all of yours?" Jisung shoots back teasingly. 

"In your dorm room with my post-it notes, probably." 

"As refreshing as it is to see you like this, I guess that means you'll have to come over and get it back," he says, feeling bold. Bold enough that he opens his eyes, his breath catching as he finds himself looking at Minho's face. His eyes are still closed, and Jisung wonders if he feels the same way that he does about being afraid it's all a dream. _Of course he does,_ Jisung thinks. _We're the same, after all._ "Hopefully soon." 

A funny little smile spreads across Minho's face at that. "Han Jisung, are you asking me on a date?" 

"No, I'm asking you to hang out with me. We have all those episodes we were going to watch before we got tired, remember?" He leans forward again and steals another kiss, this one short and sweet. Minho leans into it, chasing Jisung's lips as he pulls back. "But I do want to go on a date with you. I kind of… looked up that cat cafe thinking I might take you there on one if I ever got brave." 

Minho's eyes twinkle as they open to look at him. "You had me drive us there anyways." 

"I wanted to see how happy it'd make you even if I was too much of a coward to ask you out," he admits. 

The look Minho gives him is positively starstruck. Without saying another word, Minho reaches up and cups Jisung's face and pulls him into another kiss. He holds him there and this time Jisung doesn't pull away, letting himself savor the warmth of Minho's lips pressed to his. 

When Minho finally pulls back, he presses his face against Jisung's again, his nose nuzzling against his cheek. Jisung's eyes flutter open again, smiling wide. 

"Does that mean you want to go with me to the cat cafe again?" Jisung asks in a teasing lilt. 

Minho kicks Jisung's shoe, not enough to knock him over but enough for Jisung to feel it. He laughs as Minho pulls away to look at him with a scowl that doesn't meet his eyes in the slightest. "You're so smug. I don't like it." 

"You do," Jisung sings, jumping up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to the tip of Minho's nose. The other boy melts on the spot, wrapping his arms around Jisung's waist and pulling him closer. "You do because you like me." 

And it's so freeing being able to say that and know it's true. He feels like he could float away. 

Minho's eyes soften, the scowl falling off his face only to be replaced by a genuine smile. "I do. I do like you, Han Jisung." 

"Sap," Jisung says before he can stop himself, and Minho rolls his eyes. 

"You're going to be insufferable now," Minho complains, but he doesn't let go. 

"And you'll put up with me anyways," he says, and suddenly warmth blossoms in his stomach, heat creeping up the back of his neck, "because you love me." 

"I did say that, didn't I?" Minho murmurs. 

Jisung smiles up at him. "You did. Can you say it again?" 

Minho's arms tighten around him. "Will you say it back?" 

"Wanna find out?" Jisung asks, his voice teasing but his heartbeat loud in his own ears. 

Minho just looks down at him for a moment. Then, in a perfectly steady voice, he says, "I'll always put up with you, Jisung. Because I love you." 

"I love you too," Jisung says, and it feels like a weight's been lifted off of him. He watches in awe as the prettiest smile he's ever seen spreads across Minho's face, and with a tug the other boy is kissing him silly again. 

It feels like forever before it stops, and when Minho finally pulls away he's still smiling in a way that just makes him want to kiss him again and again and never stop. 

"Do you know how hard it was not just grabbing you and kissing you every time you smiled your little heart-shaped smile at me all these months?" Minho asks in a low voice. 

"My heart-shaped smile," Jisung repeats with a little smile. "You told me about that before." 

"Have I?" Minho asks, blinking a bit. 

"Yeah, that first time you came to my dorm when you fell off my skateboard. You asked if anybody's ever told me I have one," Jisung reminds him. 

Minho's eyebrows raise. "Oh. I forgot about that. How did you remember it?" 

Jisung grins up at him. "Everything you say to me is memorable, Minho." 

When he leans in for yet another kiss, Minho reaches up and presses something against his lips. Blinking, Jisung realizes it's one of the chocolate kisses Minho carries in his pockets during work. Confused, he opens his mouth and lets Minho pop the chocolate out of the wrapper the rest of the way and into Jisung's mouth. 

Minho must see the confusion on Jisung's face as he chews because he chuckles. 

"I can't keep kissing you here while I'm on my shift, as much as I want to," Minho explains, tucking a few more kisses into Jisung's pocket. 

"Says the guy who's snuck me chocolate since practically the day we met despite it being against the rules," Jisung counters after he swallows. 

Minho rolls his eyes. "I only did that because you're cute." 

Jisung's eyebrows shoot up. "Wait. Since the beginning? Like the very first time?" 

"Duh," Minho says, his voice taking on the obnoxious tone he often uses when he's being a tease for the sake of being a tease. "You think I'd share my chocolate with just anybody I see in the library?" 

It… genuinely hadn't occurred to Jisung once. "I mean… yeah?" 

Minho laughs. "Sungie, when I told you you're dense this is what I meant. Yes. From day one I've thought you were cute, you idiot." 

Jisung whacks Minho on the arm playfully. "You can't talk! I've been practically drooling over you since we met!" 

"And I guessed that, I just didn't know how serious you were!" Minho protests. He loosens his arms around Jisung and with a panic, Jisung grabs onto them with his own. Minho laughs again. "Jisung, come on!" 

"I was always serious!" Jisung tells him earnestly, tightening his hands on Minho's arms. "Always!" 

"I believe you! I believe you now!" Minho shakes his head, still smiling. "I mean it, Jisung. I have to go back to work! I waited over here for so long and I really do have things I need to do!" 

"Can kissing your boyfriend be added to the list of things you need to do?" Jisung whines. 

"Who says you're my boyfriend?" Minho shoots back, and Jisung pauses to look at him. 

"I-- I do?" Jisung says, suddenly unsure. 

Minho snorts then, cupping Jisung's face again and tilting his head so he can press a kiss to Jisung's forehead. "Yeah, yeah, alright. I guess you're the expert. You're my boyfriend." 

"Yay," Jisung cheers softly, which makes Minho giggle. 

Minho slowly pulls his arms away, leaving Jisung pouting at him as he reaches out to grab Minho's hands in his, threading their fingers together. "I promise I'll add kissing my boyfriend to my to do list, but first I have money to earn." 

"Forget money, I'm cute," Jisung says. 

"I need money to take you out on cute dates and buy you food," Minho reminds him. 

"I take that back, money's pretty cute too," Jisung relents. 

Minho laughs, slowly starting to take steps back towards the bookshelves and trying to untangle his hands from Jisung's, who just keeps holding on, matching every step Minho takes with his own. "Jisung!" 

"Fine!" With a pout, Jisung releases Minho's hands. He doesn't miss how Minho's fingers linger over his even after he stops holding on for dear life. "But a promise is a promise." 

"You'll get your kisses," Minho says with a little eye roll. "For now the chocolate ones will have to do." 

"It's not the same," he complains. 

"You're right," Minho agrees. "I'm much sweeter." 

And because he can't help himself, as Minho turns to leave Jisung grabs him once more and pulls him in, pressing their mouths together. Minho breaks out into a goofy smile against his lips and it makes him laugh before he relents and lets Minho go. 

"You're the most impatient person I've ever met," Minho says breathlessly, taking small steps away from him, still wearing his big dumb smile. 

"And you love me," Jisung sings back, putting his hands over his heart. 

"I'm going now," Minho tells him with a shake of his head. 

"I know," Jisung says. 

"You're a pest," Minho says. 

"I know," Jisung says. 

"I love you," Minho says. 

"I know," Jisung says, which makes Minho rolls his eyes. Laughing, he adds, "I love you too! Go do your job!" 

"I'm trying but you won't let me," Minho complains, which makes Jisung laugh. 

"I'm letting you now, you just don't want to go!" Jisung shoos him with his hands, grinning wide. 

"Well now I am going to go and I'm going to have a _great_ time working just to spite you," Minho retorts, continuing to step backwards. 

"Then go already," Jisung tells him fondly, and finally, _finally_ , Minho turns around and walks away. Jisung watches him go, warm everywhere. Like he just rolled around in the summer sun. 

Smiling to himself, he pulls out his phone, unsurprised to find unread texts from Felix. Boy, he's gonna have a lot to tell him later. 

 

**[Felix]**  
**is everything okay?**  
**bro?**

**[Jisung]**  
**everything is perfect**  
**i'll tell you everything when i get back but i love you and seungmin a lot okay?**  
**and i'm glad you're here for me**

**[Felix]**  
**is that a sarcastic perfect or a genuine one?**

**[Jisung]**  
**it's a "i have a boyfriend and his name is lee minho" perfect**

**[Felix]**  
**EXCUSE ME**  
**HELLO?**  
**JISUNG?**  
**HAN JISUNG?**

 

Jisung snorts, pocketing his phone. He'll deal with that later. As for now, he wanders out through the shelves until he emerges into the main area. 

He settles down at the table he sat at with Woojin on that first day in the library, his heart skipping as his eyes fall on _definitely_ the most beautiful human being he's ever seen pulling a cart of books along with him. Minho's hair is ruffled from where Jisung ran his fingers through them just minutes ago. Now the brown reminds him even more of the cups of hot chocolate he's shared with Minho over the past few months. When Minho tilts his head down to look at the books in his cart, Jisung can see the fine features of his profile that he's come to memorize. He still looks like a prince, although Jisung knows he's a lot more than that now. 

Now, maybe Jisung's been known to be a bit of a hopeless romantic in his time. Maybe the past few months have just been a lot of him being teased by his friends. Maybe he was struck dead in his tracks in the place he least expected it. 

Maybe Han Jisung's fallen more than a little bit in love with this pretty librarian he's come to call his friend. 

Minho seems to notice him then, a goofy smile spreading across his face as he shakes his head at him. Jisung sticks his tongue out, making Minho reach up to cover his mouth and stifle his giggles. He pointedly turns away to put away his books, but Jisung's not blind and he sees the way Minho steals glances at him over his shoulder every few seconds, nor is he stupid enough not to notice the way the dorky smile hasn't left Minho's face at all since he spotted him. 

Sitting back in his seat, Jisung unwraps one of the chocolate kisses Minho gave him and pops it into his mouth, thinking about how much sweeter the ones he has waiting for him are. 

**Author's Note:**

> woo how's that for a first fic for a fandom. if you liked it please kudos and comment if you're up for it! nothing makes a writer wanna write more than positive feedback! thank you so much!
> 
> fun fact now that we're at the end: the original 5k word fic was supposed to end with minho kissing jisung in the doorway of the dorm after he skinned his hands trying to skateboard to impress jisung. seunglix interrupting after minho told jisung he has a heart-shaped smile was literally replacing the kiss from the original fic. imagine if it ended that early!
> 
> twitter: [LlNOHAN](https://twitter.com/LlNOHAN)  
> curiouscat: [lunarminho](https://curiouscat.me/lunarminho)


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